


Catch My Fall

by AlaraKitan



Category: The Orville (TV)
Genre: Anal Fingering, Angst, BDSM, Biting, Blackmail, Blood and Gore, Blow Jobs, Bondage, Cunnilingus, Daddy Kink, Death, Dirty Talk, Drama, Drinking, Drug Use, Exhibitionism, Extreme Humiliation, F/F, F/M, Face Punching, Facials, Femdom, Forced, Forced Orgasm, Hair-pulling, Hostage Situations, Humiliation, Hurt/Comfort, Lesbian Sex, Master/Pet, Memory Loss, Mental Coercion, Murder, Non-Consensual Blow Jobs, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Pet Play, Punishment, Rape/Non-con Elements, Sadism, Sexual Coercion, Space Pirates, Spanking, Torture, Violence, Vomiting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-10
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-01-31 11:09:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 107,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12680679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlaraKitan/pseuds/AlaraKitan
Summary: The Orville is captured by pirates with incredibly twisted intent mostly having to do with a fetish regarding Xelayan females. (Seriously Dark Fic not for the light-hearted casual fan)





	1. Taken

**Author's Note:**

> The first chapter is fairly brutal but it's really only a taste of what you'll end up getting because it's going to be a lot worse. If you don't like it, you've been fairly warned and all the tags have been listed. If none of that bothers you then have fun. Hate comments will be ignored.

There is a soundtrack/Fan Mix to go along with this story if you are interested. It follows the theme of the story and was inspiration for a lot of it.  
[[LINK](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJMtr7hOS0PP1HhFWHP4Po3j609sYBWjE)]

* * *

 

 All she knew was that it was cold and dark. She couldn’t remember how she’d gotten there either. Something about the ship being invaded. Pirates they said as if that was in anyway relevant to their current world. She’d heard rumors of pirates and their alleged ability to take over starships but from what she’d been taught they were just rumors. Almost no truth to them. They harkened back from the days when the planetary union had just formed and their fleets weren’t nearly as big, nor were their ships. She didn’t actually consider that they could possibly ever be boarded by pirates, or there would be a ship big and powerful enough to do what they had done to the Orville. Even worse, she felt like a complete failure, the chief of security who couldn’t even formulate a plan to stop them, to save everyone. Now she was, here, wherever that was and her entire body felt like it had been pushed through a very small bone crushing crack to get her into this room in the first place.

“You awake?” She heard a voice from nowhere. It didn’t seem to come from any direction and the room stayed just as pitch black as it had been since she’d opened her eyes. This complete sensory deprivation was already getting to her and it hadn’t even been five minutes. She took a deep breath, realizing whoever had spoken was not in the room but could still see her. Perhaps some kind of monitor she was not aware of.

“What do you want?” She breathed, trying to pull the tattered scraps of her outfit over her better, it just wasn’t working out very well. It was absolutely freezing, probably on purpose. She was on a cold floor, not a bed. It didn’t smell too particularly nice in there either.

“We wanted you.” The voice replied then laughed, “Not every day we come across a pretty little female Xelayan.”

“Fuck you.” She growled, “Captain Mercer will-“

“Will what? We have him too. He’s not going to come in and save you, or anyone else for that matter.” The voice replied. She swallowed down the bile that was starting to rise in her throat and took in another slow breath to attempt to fight off the panic. She was actually very close to screaming. Not just in terror but anger as well. She would have smashed something if she could see well enough to figure out what to smash.

“Don’t need him to save me.” She said though she didn’t sound as sure of that as she was trying to sound in order to intimidate this douchebag. “I can take care of myself.”

“Isn’t that adorable,” The voice said, laughter lining each of the words, “Well, then you should be that much more fun to break.”

“FUCK. YOU!” She yelled. There was no reply after that point, though she didn’t doubt she could still be heard, she wasn’t going to continue talking nor was she going to beg and plead for her life. She was going to refuse to show any sort of actual fear and figure out this situation. It couldn’t be that hard. Whoever came in there next would be in for a world of hurt because she’d just take them down. They seemed to be familiar with her species and even if they intended to starve her to weaken her up a bit, she’d still be able to overpower some of their best men. At least, she hoped. She didn’t know what she was up again. If they had another Xelayan on there, and a male, she might be kind of screwed.

Despite the complete lack of light she looked around and attempted to get her bearings. It wasn’t easy and by the time she felt she might be able to stand, it proved to be a mistake because she instantly hit her head on the ceiling. It hurt, and it was strong enough material not to crack or dent. They obviously knew what they were doing here and the capabilities of her species. This only left her to wonder what they wanted and why. She fell back to the floor in a daze. In a stroke of genius, or concussion, she was able to figure out what they wanted for her in here was to crawl. _Like an animal_. They also called her a _pretty little Xelayan_ , and it was starting to creep up on her that the purpose she was intended for was sexual in nature. She had to bite her lip to keep from screaming.

Staying still, where she was, sure someone who was watching her was greatly amused at her current head injury from thinking she could stand, she closed her eyes and tried to think of something else. _Anything else_. Even focusing on the tremendous pain she was in, was better than considering that the situation had just turned out to be that she was now a sex toy in training for some twisted fetishists. There had to be a way out of this nightmare and panicking wouldn’t be it.

* * *

 

The only reason she woke when she did a second time was that someone had grabbed her ankle and was pulling her out of whatever that small room was. Her head was killing her and she was a bit too dazed to even attempt to stop it. When she was pulled up, her arms were yanked painfully behind her back and restrained tightly in something. Whatever it was, she couldn’t break it. No matter how hard she tried. Obviously, she was not completely invincible but most human and earth contraptions were not a match for her strength. This meant they were very prepared, more prepared than she’d hoped and without the use of her arms she was far more challenged.

The lights were also too bright, she attempted to kick at whatever was in front of her because she could see a blob of something there but then there was a painful shock administered to her neck. She let out a very weak cry from a dry throat, her body going limp and refusing to cooperate. Her head hung down and she closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again, things were a bit more clear. She could see the floor which appeared to be carpeted but she was definitely not on The Orville.

“Look at me.” A deep, male voice commanded. She shook her head, mostly because she didn’t think she had the strength to actually lift it up but because she wasn’t yet so broken she was just going to immediately follow orders. “LOOK AT ME SLUT!”

“Fuck you.” She growled. Her ear was grabbed and twisted causing her to scream. Whoever was holding her despite the new restraints on her arms was very strong and barely reactive to her kicking which was considerably weaker now given that she’d just been shocked at a rather high voltage.

“You can look at me, or I can shock you again.” He warned her. Her mind was telling her to look at him because she needed to save her strength but her mind was also telling her not to give in so easily that she could take another shock and she should to show him she wasn’t weak and wasn’t ready to break yet. In the end, she did nothing and got another shock as promised, causing her to scream out in pain. “Move her to the arena.”

“Yes, sir.” Said the man holding her. She was far too weak to argue with this or even attempt to struggle so off she was carried to this place this other guy was referring to as the arena. She hadn’t even seen him yet but if she had to guess he was the captain of this vessel, or whatever they called the person in charge around here. Once in the room, where thankfully the lights were a bit dimmer, she was thrown into the center and landed harshly on her side. She groaned and lifted her head but only for a moment because she hadn’t the energy to do much more than that. She closed her eyes and tried to focus all her energy on not passing out. It was about that time she heard a door open, a scuffle, some murmurs, and footsteps coming towards her. She opened her eyes and saw boots, black polished boots. Her eyes slowly shifted up and she squinted.

“Captain…” She whispered when she realized it was him. “Oh thank God.”

“Wouldn’t be doing that too soon.” He muttered and got down by her, moving some hair out of her face and looking into her eyes. “What have they done to you?” He looked very concerned and she knew in that moment it was due to the fact that he’d never seen her in such a vulnerable position and so incredibly weak.

“30 seconds.” A voice announced over some unseen speaker once again. She blinked and noticed there was a cut on his face, right under his eye. Nothing horrible, more like a scratch that had bled a bit, but otherwise he wasn’t very harmed.

“30 seconds until what?” She asked him.

“I have to…hurt you.” He said.

“What?” She asked.

“20 seconds.” The voice announced.

“I don’t know that’s what they…they told me.” He said looking around. Despite the fact that this room was called the arena there appeared to be no spectators, but once again, she could only assume there were monitors somewhere allowing other people to view whatever was happening in here. It made things a lot safer. The light was dimmer in here and she couldn’t see the outer perimeter from where she was laying, there very well could be some type of camera or monitoring equipment hidden in the dark or an entire sensory array.

“If you don’t then what?” She whispered.

“10 seconds.”

“They send someone else in here to do it.” He said, “I’m no expert with these situations but I think that it’ll be worse if I don’t listen to them.”

“What?” She asked.

“Alara, I don’t want to do this but I don’t think we have a choice either I hurt you, or one of them does.”

“Why are you even listening to them?” She demanded.

“Because they have my crew, they have you, they…I can’t fight them and I can’t let them hurt you.”

“5…”

“Captain I don’t think this is a good idea.” She said.

“4…”

“I don’t think it is either but what the fuck else are we going to do here? You want one of them to come in and do this?”

“3…”

“Please don’t do this if you listen to them once…they’ll just up the ante you have to stand strong.”

“2…”

“Alara, they have everyone and they aren’t going easy on them. You have to let me do this.”

“Ed…”

“1…” It was in that instant that he grabbed her ear, luckily not the one from before and twisted it painfully, though still not as painfully as the first man had done it. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt, and she didn’t know how he knew to go for her ears anyway or that they would be as sensitive as they were. She let out a very loud screech of pain and tried to wrench away from him, curling up as tears burned at her eyes.

“THERE I DID WHAT YOU WANTED!” He yelled, standing up and looking around. “I don’t know why you wanted it but I did it so please just end this.”

“End? This is only the beginning.” The voice said and then laughed.

“I told you-“

“No you didn’t tell me, you really think that was all they wanted?” Ed snapped at her.

“OH FUCK YOU! AT LEAST YOU GET TO WEAR MOST OF YOUR CLOTHES!” She screamed back at him. He looked at her like he hadn’t noticed that her clothes had been basically shredded before that point. Maybe he hadn’t, he seemed incredibly panicked and she couldn’t blame him. She could even understand why he’d hurt her, he was desperate and had his back against the wall. He was also right about him being less brutal than anyone they were going to send in there but how long would they let him do that? How long would they be okay with light brutality? If she had to place money on it, these people were working her up to some pretty hardcore Xelayan BDSM shit. The real taboo stuff, human vs captive…the ones where the captive was always the Xelayan.

She wasn’t unaware that this porn material existed. Usually, it was either manufactured entirely via simulation, or it was willing participants. Some fetishists couldn’t get off unless they knew it was real, not to mention the people into live performances. There were plenty of willing participants to, for either role. Sometimes male submissives, sometimes female. _Always_ with a human dominant. She didn’t have anything against dominance or being dominated, but not to the extreme they were going to want. Ed most likely had no idea what they were trying to get out of him at that point. She’d be surprised if he knew about Xelayan bondage fetish porn…or maybe…probably not. Yeah, he seemed like the type to know about it. She tried to catch her breath.

“Sorry I shouldn’t have-“

“No, I get it.” He said and got down by her again. He removed the jacket of his uniform quickly and went to put it around her.

“Do not clothe the pet.” The voice said.

“Who’s going to stop me?” He replied defiantly and lifted her so he could wrap her up in it anyway.

“Really?” She asked, “I think they have a whole army to stop you.”

“They’d have to come in here first.” He whispered and pulled her close. “Why did they call you the pet?”

“Why do you think?”

“If you fail to remove the jacket from her within the next 60 seconds, a punishment will be administered.” The voice spoke. Ed looked down at her and she shook her head.

“Do what he says.” She whispered.

“Alara-“

“Do what he says.” She repeated more firmly. He growled under his breath and removed the jacket. He then folded it and put it on the ground so she at least had a pillow to lay her head on. His hand moved to run over the restraints that were keeping her arms in place behind her back.

“What the hell is this, the only time I’ve seen one of these is-“ He very abruptly stopped himself.

“So you have seen Xelayan bondage porn.” She said.

“Does that matter right now?” He asked then his eyes went wide, “Holy shit I’m the human.”

“You think?”

“I’m not doing that to you, any of that stuff.” He insisted, “There’s nothing they can make me-“

“It’s you or someone else.” She whispered. “What did you say before? You asked me if I wanted one of them to come in here and do this. The answer is no. Do you want one of them to come in here and-“

“Fuck no but I don’t…I can’t…I know what they do in those videos.” He said almost looking horrified.

“I don’t know why you look that way seeing as how if you were watching them for fun before you certainly enjoyed-“

“I wouldn’t do it or like it if the participant was unwilling.” He interrupted her.

“Well, I’m giving you permission, for now, to be okay with it and listen to them.” She growled through clenched teeth, “Like you said, we don’t have an option.”

“I…I’m so sorry Alara.” He said, “I’ll find a way out of this before it gets too bad. I promise.” He gently put his hand on her arm trying to reassure her and as much as she appreciated the effort it wasn’t really working. Right now, they seemed to have the upper hand, and they weren’t going to let go of it anytime soon. She did believe they could get out of this, that they would be rescued by some other ship which was certainly looking for them at that point. But, how long before that happened and how much damage would all of them take? She didn’t want to think about it, she didn’t want to be there, but if the one thing she had a choice in was who did it to her she wanted it to be Captain Mercer.


	2. Where's The Edge?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is by far worse than the last with non-con elements, kind of, and violence. Just don't read it if you can't handle that sort of thing but I don't think anyone is reading this anyway so what do I have to lose?

The next two days she was kept in the cell. The small one with the low ceiling and the pitch black darkness. Like an animal. They barely fed her either, gave her just enough water so she wouldn’t completely pass out from dehydration. It was slipped into her cell somehow without letting any light in. The first time, she ended up knocking it completely over, seeing as how it was in some sort of dog dish. The second time she was a bit more careful and was able to drink it. Whatever food they were feeding her was terrible and she was thankful she couldn’t see it because she wasn’t sure she even wanted to know what it was enough to fathom a guess.

It was only by her best estimate that it had been two days. Due to complete sensory deprivation, it could have only been one day, it could have been a week. She tried to keep track of the time by when she was brought food, thinking that it would signify some type of meal. The problem is that all the food was the same, so she didn’t know when breakfast, lunch, or dinner was. After the passage of three meals, she assumed a day had passed and there had only been six served. If she was even right about that. Without any proper way to tell time, see anything, light, sound…she was going insane. This was, of course, the purpose of where she was kept so she tried her damnedest to do anything possible to stay alert and aware.

After the first 6 cycles of food, that stopped. She only started getting water. The was done for 6 more cycles. By her own system that meant that 4 days had passed, in theory. No contact with anyone, human, Xelayan, or otherwise. It was just her, no light, no sound, and the few scraps she could maybe consider as clothing by that point. Just when she was starting to consider begging and pleading for her own life, or the life of her crew and captain, she heard the door slide open and felt someone grab her ankle, pulling her out again. This time she didn’t even try to fight it seeing as how she was just thankful for any interaction that didn’t include treating her as a caged animal. The restraints were immediately placed on her arms, keeping them behind her back like they had the first time she’d been pulled out.

“Are you going to be a good pet now?” This voice wasn’t the same voice she’d heard before. It was far deeper and definitely British but it was a male voice. Considering she’d thought the owner of the first voice was the captain (as he’d been giving orders like one) this change of authority confused her enough to lift her head to see who was addressing her.

He was older, bleached, spiky hair. Piercings in his ears, rings, chains around his neck. He seemed to be wearing a lot of leather. His eyes were insanely blue. To a point where they actually made her feel cold. His lips curled into a snarl before he slapped her across the face roughly, seemingly as if he was being sure one of his rings would cut her cheek, which it did. She cried out weakly and let her head drop again only because that had been all the strength she had in the moment to do, give him a look.

“Where’s the other asshole?” She growled.

“Him?” The man asked, “He was my second in command but had to dispose of him. Guess if you want things done right around here you do them yourself, yeah? So hard to find good help these days.”

“Then who’s the idiot who’s restraining me?” She asked, still not having the strength to even look behind her to check.

“Him? Well, you don’t think I’d be training you to be a pet if I didn’t have other Xelayans around…or did you? Oh, what am I saying your kind doesn’t think. At least not very well.” He laughed loudly and patted her on the head. Though she was looking down her eyes went wide and she turned just to get a glimpse of a large Xelayan male. He was silent and his eyes were glazed over. There was no way he hadn’t been brainwashed or drugged or maybe both. Possibly he’d just been here so long he was broken. That really didn’t bode well for her. She gagged violently but she hadn’t eaten or drank anything for so long it ultimately ended up not producing vomit but it was painful. “Calm down little one. You know, I must say I’ve never seen any Xelayan as resilient as you. Even the males start begging for something after three days. You made it to day five and were nearly completely silent. You talk in your sleep.”

“Hopefully about killing you.” She grumbled.

“Sometimes.” He said but he didn’t sound like he cared too much. “Take her to the arena.”

“No…NO!” She screamed and started to attempt to struggle again but it was barely even an attempt at how much she actually managed to wiggle. It didn’t matter. Even when she was completely fine she wasn’t exactly a match for Xelayan males and the one that was holding her now was huge compared to her. She was taken to the arena despite her protests and thrown down in the center, once again landing on her side. She curled up, mostly to cover herself since her clothing was far worse for the wear than it was the first time she was brought in here. She said nothing and tried not to cry, not wanting to give anyone the satisfaction.

After a few more minutes, almost the exact moment her eyes finally adjusted to the lighting, the door across from her opened again and Ed walked in. He was only in a black t-shirt and slacks, same boots, and they were still nice. She considered that he was only dressed for this specifically and they weren’t exactly giving him the best treatment either. It had to be some sort of mindfuck or intimidation tactic. She couldn’t let herself fall for it. Couldn’t let herself believe she was the _only_ one of the crew being treated poorly.

“You have 30 seconds. You know what will happen if you do not comply.” This time it was that British voice, dark and sinister. Somehow more so than the one of the man before this point. She shifted, struggling a bit to get to her knees. Ed glared down at her as he stepped up to where she was.

“Captain,” She breathed looking up at him. Now that he was closer she could see a bit of swelling around his eye. No bruise but definite swelling and the white of his eye had a burst blood vessel making this all the more creepy. He’d been hurt, probably tortured. She hadn’t seen him for… _what was it the man said? Five days?_ Even if the accommodations for him were better it definitely wasn’t by much.

“20 seconds…”

“Until what?” Alara asked softly, looking up at him for answers. Except there wasn’t an answer he just unzipped his pants. Her eyes went wide and she started to try to back away from him which was incredibly hard in her position. “Captain…”

“Don’t fight me on this.” He said and grabbed her by the back of the head, his hand tangling in her hair and gripping it tightly. “Remember what you said.”

“I don’t know if…if I meant it…PLEASE!” She cried trying to get away from him but it wasn’t working. Even if she was at full strength and hadn’t been starved for so long she still couldn’t have done much given how she’d been restrained.

“10 seconds…”

“Open your mouth this will be a lot easier if you do and god help you if you bite me.” He warned.

“Ed…” She warned back.

“5…”

“Alara do it…”

“4…”

“I’m not going to blow you because of some sick order of some twisted-“

“3…”

“THEY’RE GOING TO KILL KELLY!” He yelled at her. She gasped in horror and that was just barely long enough for him to get his cock out and in her mouth. He was already aroused, which she definitely questioned but she also considered there were many reasons for that, including he may have been drugged. His behavior was a lot different than she would have expected, and as he forced more of it down her throat she could feel him shaking. Not from fear, it wasn’t noticeable enough for that. It was like a tremor, like when someone was on an amphetamine. He was also sweating, profusely, which was not something someone in a room that was basically freezing would do normally. She gagged loudly, looking up at him for a long moment before closing her eyes.

She had to accept this, for now. It wasn’t preferable but if this was actually going to save Kelly’s life then what choice did she have? She wasn’t sure there was much. Though them threatening to kill Kelly if he didn’t comply could be just that, a threat, they were pirates and they were going to get what they wanted one way or the other. She was close to the woman and didn’t want anything to happen to her. It sickened her to think she might be getting the same treatment as Ed or worse. How could she fight now? The realization of utter helplessness dawning on her in that moment.

“Fuck…” He muttered, his hips starting to thrust a bit as he pulled her head back then pushed her down more onto him. She wasn’t doing much of anything, not that she could. Her hands clenched into fists behind her, her nails digging into her palms hard enough to draw blood. Her eyes opened, just for a moment to look up at him. He was… _enjoying it?_ Maybe only just on a physical level but, he was. As much as she wanted to be upset because she did want it, something in her twisted and she became aroused herself.

It probably helped that she’d had intense feelings for him before this, but the last way she wanted any sort of sex to happen was in a situation where it was forced by the crazy men that took them hostage. Still, she had nothing to lose anymore and if any part of her could enjoy this, just the smallest part, she had to let it happen or she’d drive herself crazy. He’d go crazy as well, thinking he was raping her, when it wasn’t exactly that either. She vaguely remembered telling him it was okay and she’d be okay with it because they had to do it. Maybe part of that was making him feel like it was okay despite all her instincts to fight this. She started to move her tongue a bit and work her mouth over him, getting more into it and showing some effort. She heard a gasp, her eyes shifted back to him.

“Oh God…” He whispered that sounded a lot more genuine than the obscenity he’d uttered a moment before. “Fuck…d-don’t…oh my God that’s amazing.” She really wasn’t doing anything she’d differently do with her tongue to anyone but she imagined she might be a bit better at it than humans only because the strength she had allowed her to apply more pressure and deliver far more deliberate strokes.At the pleasured sound of his reaction, she only grew more aroused and shifted a bit towards him, willing away the atmosphere around her only to focus on him for the moment, starting to move her head back and forth on purpose as her tongue worked over his length.

“Alara…” He panted tugging at her hair as if he were trying to pull her back to stop her yet didn’t want it to stop. Like he didn’t know what to do. He probably couldn’t fathom why she was suddenly complying, and it must have felt wrong to him but it wasn’t as if she could explain it to him right now. “S-Stop…I’m…I’m fucking close…STOP!” She didn’t stop though she had a pretty good feeling he didn’t want her to stop with how he was holding the back of her head.

“Not in her mouth. She doesn’t deserve it.” The voice commanded.

“Fuck!” Ed snapped and pulled back very quickly. Alara gasped and coughed not expecting it but he continued, standing over her and stroking his cock. Obviously, the sudden order had stalled him just a bit but she feared what would happen if he didn’t finish, even if it meant finishing on her.

“Do it…” She panted, looking up at him.

“Are you insane?” He whispered, but there was no effort to slow down his hand and he was close, he hadn’t been lying. Not only had she tasted it but she could see the precum dripping from the tip.

“I want it…” She panted, trying to remember any dumb thing she could remember from the small amount of Xelayan porn she had seen that mimicked this very situation. “I want it because I’m a dirty little Xelayan whore.” That seemed to push him directly over the edge and moments later his cum was on her face, neck and a bit on her chest. It disgusted her but aroused her all the same, she desperately wished this moment hadn’t been forced and it could have been in private but she had to take what she could get and make sure he felt okay about it after. He stumbled back, staring at her for a long moment before wrenching his gaze away like he was sick with himself taking the moment to tuck his cock back into his pants so he was decent again. She looked down kind of wishing she could taste his cum now. Also, it wouldn’t kill her to get any sort of protein even if it was that.

“Alara…” he suddenly turned and came towards her, getting down by her quickly, pulling his shirt off and wiping her face clean. “I am…so sorry and really I shouldn’t have…reacted to what you…when you said…”

“It’s fine.” She whispered, “I don’t think it would make the situation better if you felt like you were…raping me.”

“That-that’s it? That’s all it was?” He asked.

“I can’t promise much, Ed…because I don’t think that’s the worst thing they are going to make you do but I can’t let anything happen to Kelly or the rest of the crew and you need to stay strong too.” She replied looking him in the eyes. He looked down at her, their gaze locking and it was intense. Quite possibly only because the moment was so fucked up and they were both desperate for any sort of meaningful contact that wasn’t violent or painful.

“I’m really sorry…” He whispered.

“Did they drug you?” She asked. He nodded, “It’s okay, I’m okay as long as it’s you I’m okay. I promise.” She blinked a few times and a tear fell down her cheek. He pulled her in close and held her there.

“None of that now.” The voice said, “She’s a dirty animal, what the hell do my men have to do to you in order for you to realize that?” The voice asked.

“She’s no more of an animal than you or I.” Ed yelled loudly, “Fuck off with your racist bullshit!”

“Now Ed, what did we tell you about being naughty?” The voice warned.

“No…NO!”

“What….Ed? What’s going on?” Alara asked, her heart starting to race.

“I’m sorry, you’re right…she…she’s a dirty animal.” He said quickly and moved away from her. It would have hurt more to hear that had it not been said in the most panicked and unconvincing way possible. Even if it hadn’t, she was starting to see that they were trying to brainwash him into thinking this way. It wasn’t him, it was them. She had to remember that because if she ever forgot that for one second she’d turn against him as well and she knew this was what they had to want. A truly hateful situation where she was subservient and completely broken by a man who was determined to treat her like a pet.

“Very good.” The voice said, “Hit her.”

“What?” Ed asked.

“Hit her, and none of that bullshit ear pulling I saw a few days ago. I know it looked rough but you really weren’t doing much and you know it.” The voice told him. He wasn’t wrong, Ed could have been far worse with her ear and though she hadn’t seen what he was doing she felt it. He must have put on a decent act to get away with it at the time.

“I’m not going to hit her!” He insisted.

“You have 30 seconds.”

“FUCK YOU!” Ed yelled.

“Just do it. It’s okay.” Alara told him. He turned to look at her.

“Alara I just fucked your face and jizzed on it, which was farther away from okay than you want to tell me it is, I’m not going to hit you.” He said firmly.

“Will they hurt Kelly if you don’t follow orders?” She asked.

“They’re going to hurt her regardless of that and maybe she…she has to…fi-fight for herself. Just this once.” He said.

“20 seconds…”

“Do you really want that?” She asked, “Look, I know I’m small by human standards but my pain tolerance is much higher than you want to believe it is. You of all people should know that given the porn you are apparently into.”

“10 seconds…”

Ed moved away from her and paced for a moment, looking her over and then looking down at his hands, his breathing had increased and no doubt in her mind the restlessness had a lot to do with the drugs he’d admitted to being given.

“What specifically should I do so you don’t say I’m going too easy on her?” Ed asked loudly.

“Now you’re getting it. Good boy.” The voice said then there was a dark chuckle, “Punch her, aim for the jaw.”

“SERIOUSLY!?”

“5 seconds.”

Ed roared angrily and turned to her, punching her hard enough to knock her right to the floor. Fuck did that hurt and she kind of didn’t think he could punch that hard. Not because anything in her believed him to be weak but shit that was a good punch. She was only a bit dazed though, on a human, male or female that would have been a knockout.

“Ow…” She muttered.

“Shit…Alara…” He moved to get down by her but the guards were in there a moment later and he put his hands up and stopped moving to show he wasn’t attempting to resist. His arms were grabbed and pulled behind his back where they were cuffed. The guards were Xelayan and they had the same dead looks in their eyes as the one who had been holding her captive before.

“You will be pleased to know that thanks to your swifter than normal compliance your pet will be upgraded to slightly nicer accommodations.” The voice said. Alara breathed a sigh of relief hearing that. If it wasn’t a lie of course. She wondered if Ed even knew where she had been kept before. If it was even just a pitch black room where she could stand up she’d feel better about the situation.

“Damn right she will.” Ed spat before getting elbowed in the stomach. He groaned as he doubled over but was easily dragged out of there. Alara closed her eyes tightly and started the deep breathing again. They could get through this, all of them could, they just needed to keep their heads together and remember that at the end of the day no one really meant any of their actions. It was being forced. It was most important for her to remember this and hold onto it as long as she could.


	3. Downtime

Her new quarters were significantly better, not slightly. Well, to a point. There was a normal bed in there, more like a cot. When she was brought in it was not taken but she guessed it was meant for someone else when the Xelayan slave who brought her in there pointed to what was an obvious dog bed on the floor. She glared at him but all he did was grab her by her hair and put a collar around her neck. One with metal prongs on the inside that dug into her skin, the only reason she could think of for this was that it was a shock collar. He then released her arm restraints and shoved her in further.

“What is wrong with you? Can’t you see what’s going on here?” She asked, “You’re stronger than this.”

“I am no stronger than my human permits me to be.” He replied in a very monotone voice.

“Wake up! Humans don’t own you, no one owns you!” She snapped but she knew she was no physical match for him so she didn’t try to hurt him. Besides, he was armed and she could see that plain as day.

“Your human owns you.” He said.

“My human…Ed?” She asked and then laughed, “He’s my captain, my crewmate, and my friend. He’s not my human and he doesn’t own me.”

“That will change. The only way you get out of here is in death.” He warned then stepped back allowing a forcefield to come over the open door area. It was very much an open cell, one wall replaced entirely with a forcefield so that she could be observed. Her and whoever was going to be her cellmate. The only very slightly shielded area was a tiny alcove with what looked like a shower and a toilet. It was better than the hole in the ground she had in the smaller cell. Even the dog bed was better than nothing. She forced herself to appreciate this upgrade because it was massive and if she complained too much there was nothing stopping them from taking her back.

Deciding that since the ship had already seen her blow Ed and get cum on her face, being naked wasn’t a big deal, she stripped down and headed for the shower. She needed one, badly, and the least of it was because she’d gotten cum on her. It had been 5 days, she’d been in some filthy little storage hole, _ugh_. It made her skin crawl. She was careful to maintain the clothing she did have even though it was mostly scraps of fabric by that point, and she placed it on her bed before going into the alcove. She was still exposed here from certain angles but she made herself to get over it.

The hot water felt very nice, and she ran it as hot as possible as she cleaned every inch of her body as best as she could. Until the water was threatening to run cold. She then turned it off and stepped out, realizing there were no towels. Okay, no big deal, being clean, wet, and cold was better than being dirty and cold, or dirty wet and cold. She started to pace to keep her temperature up and also dry quicker. She heard footsteps behind her and turned to see a guard approaching with Kelly who looked half dead, being mostly dragged there. She was shoved into the cell and the forcefield was immediately put back in place. She stumbled to the bed and laid down on it.

She wasn’t in her uniform or even a ripped variation of that. It was some sort of slutty form-fitting red dress that had also been ripped. Alara got down by her side quickly, putting a hand on her arm, rubbing it a bit, trying to get her attention. Her eyes went from glazed over to more alert but a moment later she screamed and kicked Alara away from her with her high heel clad foot.

“HEY!” Alara yelled, “Kelly it’s me! Alara!”

“Alara?” She asked weakly then quickly sat up, “Oh my God…” She scrambled off of the bed and pulled her into a tight hug. With how bruised, dazed, and entranced she was, Alara could only imagine she’d been taken somewhere to be used in a sexual capacity by one or more people. She hugged Kelly back. Even with her own situation as bad as it was, at least she got someone she knew. It had to be far worse with a stranger, or many of them.

“I was so scared.” Alara said, “They said that they’d kill you if…”

“If what?” Kelly asked, pulling back to look at her, “Holy shit your face, who hit you? I’ll kill him.”

“Uh…that’s the thing,” Alara said, taking Kelly’s hands gently. “I take it you don’t know?”

“No, Ed wouldn’t tell me.” She said, “I mean not that I get to talk to him for more than a minute at a time but he refused. All he would tell me was you were alive.” At that point, she didn’t know what to do or how to respond. _Was it okay for her to tell Kelly what happened?_ Clearly, Ed wasn’t for a reason but what if that reason was he wanted Alara to tell her? _What if it was meant to be a secret?_ He was only told that she would be moved to slightly better accommodations not that she would be housed with someone she actually knew and was close to. There was no way the crew of this ship didn’t know that was the case, but Ed wouldn’t know. At least not yet.

“Well, I can tell you but you can’t get upset. I don’t mean that in a joking way. I mean in the way that I’m thinking I’m not supposed to tell you because they want us to turn against each other.” Alara said.

“What are you talking about? Tell me what happened.” She said moving her hand to Alara’s jaw but she pulled back and took a deep breath. “Shit you’re naked, and a collar, what have they done to you?” Kelly reached behind her and grabbed the pathetic excuse for a blanket they’d given her and wrapped it around Alara.

“It wasn’t them.” She said, “Well, other than being kept in a room where I couldn’t stand up for 5 days and getting starved…”

“Jesus…”

“It was…Captain Mercer.” She said, not sure if she should call him Ed in front of Kelly as that may sound way to informal and personal. At least this way she could choose what to tell Kelly and there wasn’t any need to tell her about the sexual stuff. She could find a way to explain it that sounded like it was forced and minimize the Xelayan fetish stuff. For now. There was the risk that Kelly would find out on her own though. Probably not even a risk. A when not an if. Shit. Well, she’d break the news slowly and gently because it was a hard nugget of information to swallow.

“Ed? ED did this to you? Ed…your captain?” She laughed in disbelief, “No…you’re mistaken.”

“Kelly…” Alara said slowly, “I’m not mistaken I know what happened. He did it under threat of you being killed if he didn’t and I gave him permission to do it. He was also drugged on something, some type of amphetamine it made him very aggressive. To his credit, he held back very well but-“

“You’re serious?” She asked.

“Why would I make this up? What would I have to gain? I told you that you couldn’t get mad. They’d want that, to break us up. That’s probably the only reason they put me here instead of back in that tiny little storage unit.” She explained.

“And that’s all he did, hit you?” She asked, “Because as much as that angers me, I…I can get over it. Yes I can get over it he was threatened, with my life and you were too. You agreed to it. To save me.”

“Well they were threatening something else too but he wouldn’t tell me what I just…I’ve never seen him so panicked so I…went with it. Whatever they threatened it must have been very bad.” She said. He was actually threatened with Kelly’s death if she didn’t blow him, then whatever the second thing was, she never heard any details about that. She still didn’t want to tell Kelly what had gone on but the longer she waited the more horrific the level of shock would be.

“Okay, but what else was there, Alara?”

“You can’t get mad.”

“I’m going to definitely get mad if you keep saying that to me.” She warned. “What else did they make him do?”

“I uh…” She looked away for a moment and then kind of mimicked with her hand sucking a dick for about 5 seconds, unable to bring herself to say it.

“You’re joking…” Kelly replied. She shook her head and kept her gaze averted. “Why in the hell would they…I mean I believe you but _**why** **?**_ ”

“It has to do with Xelayan bondage fetish porn.” She muttered looking down. “That’s what the bed is for, I’m the pet. They are trying to break him…make him into my master. I don’t know if it’s because they want him to be a part of this crew which if you haven’t noticed has a lot of Xelayan brainwashed slaves or-“

“Trust me, I noticed that much.” She said, “But why him, why not Gordon or John or-“

“Probably because he’s my captain and it’s the most demeaning thing they can think of.” She said, “That’s the basis of that porn, or at least that specific genre of porn.”

“Wait…how do you know this?” Kelly asked and Alara gave her a look like she was an idiot, “Fine, that was stupid for me to say, I’ll admit it. What specifically happens in that shit then?”

“Well there’s usually a very unwilling Xelayan, male or female, that is tortured, humiliated, and fucked until they submit. By a human. They make all kinds of it, lesbian, gay, straight, big ass orgies, love triangle…”

“I get the picture,” Kelly said, stopping her. “And they want Ed to-“

“Yeah.”

“And you…?”

“Do I have a choice?” She asked.

“They kept threatening him?” She asked, “Over me at least once and then something you don’t know about?”

“Yeah. Does he have any other…weaknesses? Though I suppose it could be another member of the crew but if it was, I assume he’d just tell me. He told me about you with…only a little hesitation.”

“A little?”

“He didn’t seem to even want to tell me at first but I think it was to protect me more than to be a dick about it.” She said.

“You are okay with this?”

“I am okay with it to the level I have to be in order to make him feel like he’s not raping me. If it were you, would you rather it be him or some stranger because pretty much those are my options.” She said. Kelly nodded.

“Fair enough.” She sighed then got up and headed to the shower area. She pulled off the dress and Alara turned away from her to at least attempt to give her some privacy. “I’ve gotten the strangers and I’d prefer it to be him, or even someone else from the crew. As gross as it is it’s not as gross as them, and it wouldn’t be nearly as horrifying. I don’t think they’d even do half the stuff to me that…”

“Yeah, I assume as much too.” Alara sighed and shook her head. “I’m so sorry, Kelly.”

“Why?” She asked and started to run the water.

“I’m the chief of security and I couldn’t prevent any of this. It’s my fault. I deserve this but you guys…”

“Alara, it’s not your fault.” Kelly said, “How could you have prevented a massive pirate ship with that amount of firepower from…well, you know what happened.”

“I don’t know but it was my job to-“

“You did your job to the best extent you could and we did all of our jobs to the best extent we could. It wasn’t you versus them it was all of us and we all tried our best.” She said, “This is none of our faults. Okay? Don’t you dare think for one second it’s yours or anyone is trying to blame it on you.” Alara nodded and crawled over to the dog bed to lay down on it. At least it was big enough to fit her and was better than the cold hard floor.

“I’m still sorry.” She said softly.

“Yeah, so am I,” Kelly replied. Alara shivered, that little blanket was barely enough but it was something. She yawned and allowed herself to drift off into something resembling a comfortable sleep. At least far more so than the sleep she had been getting before.

* * *

She woke again when she heard shouting. Not that she picked up on any of what was said because it had stopped by the time she was sitting up. Kelly was against the wall in a different, cleaner dress (this one was blue) being held at gunpoint. One of the Xelayan slaves came in there right towards her. She cried out and scrambled back but she was caught and put in that stupid restraining device again, then easily picked up and dropped back onto the bed. The blanket was yanked away from her as well.

“Animals don’t need blankets.” The guard said and glared at Kelly. This caused the second guard to backhand her roughly.

“HEY!” Alara yelled but she got a quick shock from the collar a moment later, one strong enough to knock her completely to a flat position where she was laying down, her ears started to ring.

“Okay…Okay, I understand.” Kelly said. “Just don’t hurt her.”

“Quiet bitch.” The guard holding her at gunpoint growled. He wasn’t Xelayan either. He was human and also seemed to be an actual part of the crew. The Xelayan left and came back with a tray of food. One plate had a sandwich, soup, and a bottle of water. The other was a dish with what looked like some sort of dog chow. That one was set down in front of her. Alara looked up at the slave like he had to be joking.

“How do I eat this?” She asked.

“Figure it the fuck out.” The guard snapped. “You can share the water since you need to learn a lesson about the rights of pets on this ship.” He glared at Kelly and let go of her, before moving out of there and putting the forcefield back up. Kelly looked at the tray that had been left. There were no utensils and nothing that could potentially be broken and fashioned into a sharp pointed object to stab anyone with. Alara didn’t even have her hands to do it if they did have something like that.

“Did they seriously give you dog food?” Kelly asked, “Here have half of my-“

“If you give me that…”

“Fuck them I’ll take a beating for it,” Kelly said and held it close to her face. From the smell of what was in the dish, Alara could tell this was what they had been feeding her when she was in the dark. She really hated the idea of it but she knew she could stomach it and keep it down. With as hungry as it was it was painful to turn her head away from the sandwich.

“I shouldn’t have to say this but I’m used to the dog food.” She said, “Save your sandwich for yourself, okay?” She shifted and got lower to get her head in the dish and start to eat. The more she resisted this the more they’d like that. They key here was for her not to actually break. Forget who she was. If she just did what she was told then they wouldn’t have to break her and this potentially should keep her mentally sharp enough to eventually formulate a plan. The problem with all the others is they resisted enough to reach a breaking point. If they had just accepted their fate they could have stayed sharp. This cycle was breaking with her and her crew.

“Alara…”

“Do what you are told.” She said sternly, looking up from the food dish. It really sucked she couldn’t explain why to Kelly, or anyone else but maybe they’d pick up on it. If she outright told Kelly why she was being obedient the captain and everyone else on that stupid ship would realize what she was doing. Why she was doing it. Then they’d most certainly find a way to circumvent it. Kelly, Ed, Gordon, John…they were all smart. Hopefully, they’d get it too. If not, she at least had herself and she’d get them out of there by herself if she had to. There was no question about that.

“Most of the crew is dead,” Kelly said, apropos of nothing. She sat on her bed and started to eat.

“What?”

“Yeah they uh…they just took the ones they wanted and the rest were…disposed of. I don’t want to talk about it I just thought you should know.” She explained.

“They aren’t going to get away with this,” Alara replied.

“Looks like they are doing a pretty good job of it so far.” Kelly sighed sitting back more. “At least take my water, all of it. How long has it been-“

“They’ve been giving me water, I’m fine.” Alara said, “How many of the original crew made it onto this ship?”

“About 50 of us were selected,” Kelly said.

“Claire?” Alara asked.

“She was one selected but none of us have seen her since we came onboard. We think maybe they needed someone for medical reasons so she’s possibly in sickbay. Or whatever qualifies as a sickbay for this place.” Kelly said. Alara nodded and went back to eating. When she was done, she curled up on the bed as tightly as possible to try to conserve body heat.

“If one of us gets hurt or sick, I guess we can find out,” Alara said.

“I’ve been hurt all over the place here I don’t think they care.” Kelly said, “Not about us at least. They keep calling you a pet but in a way all of us are. We just kind of outrank you, I’m not saying that to be mean I’m saying it because it’s obviously true.”

“Yeah yeah, I get that,” Alara replied and closed her eyes. “This sucks, all of us. All we can do is follow orders and wait and see what happens.”

“Follow orders my ass, I’m getting out of this place as soon as I figure out how and I’m taking the rest of us along with me.” She promised. With no way to communicate to Kelly why it was important to follow orders, Alara could only hope she figured it out on her own before she broke. Kelly was a strong one, and it was likely going to be a while before they broke her down but when she fell, it was going to be a very hard landing.


	4. Tamed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Death in this chapter a lot of it. Dub-Con. Violence. Lots of it. Humiliation, torture. Minor character deaths but they were stated to be crew members of The Orville so read at your own risk.

She was back in the arena after something had happened. The best she could piece together was her food had been drugged because the last thing she remembered was eating what they had called breakfast. The past two days before that point had been more of them taking Kelly out of the cell for something and leaving her alone for hours on end. It was as if they were trying to limit the amount of time she’d have to speak to anyone. It worked well because the more torture and punishment Kelly went through the less she wanted to talk and the more submissive she was becoming. Considering the injuries she was sustaining, Alara did not think it was a willing submission. She could not tell her plan to Kelly without them knowing. The woman was reaching her breaking point.

The only reason she was somewhat glad she was waking up in this arena was that she would be able to see Ed. That was the one thing keeping her going. The problem was that seeing as how Kelly was breaking down, she had no idea what Ed would be like after two days. _Were they worse to him? More psychological? More physical? A combination of both? Where was he being kept? What was he being fed? What had he seen?_ She had no way to know the answers to any of this and she had to think of something quickly. Some way to communicate with him. Some way to be moved into his cell. It was nothing against Kelly but Ed might just be the strongest one left and she at very least wanted to know what was going on.

She slowly shifted into a kneeling position and she was still naked. This time there were no arm restraints but the collar was still on and there was no doubt in her mind that they had control over this collar no matter where they were on the ship. She took in another breath and got to her feet. Her legs were a bit shaky, as she hadn’t been permitted to do anything in Kelly’s cell other than crawl around. She had been following every order she’d been given no matter how stupid or disgusting she found it. She hadn’t been talking back. Everything about her had been completely obedient to avoid any sort of punishment and to look like maybe she was already accepting her place on this ship even if that was far from the truth.

The doors opened. Two of her former crew members walked out into the area looking pretty horrified but amped up. Like Ed had been the last time she saw him. Probably drugged with something. They were each holding weapons. Large knives. They were fully dressed as well. Both in their uniforms but, torn and kind of dirty. They looked half insane. Behind them, two guards dragged in Ed. His head was down and his arms were cuffed behind his back, he wasn’t moving. This was not a good sign, at all. She kept her breathing slow and calm.

“30 seconds.” The voice announced. The same evil British man from days before. The crew members, whose names she didn’t even remember (and felt bad about) who were both human (one male and one female) came running at her wielding their weapons. The only damn thing she could think was that they were told to kill her, or at very least fight her. The final deduction was a fight to the death. There was no way in hell either of them was a match for her, even both at once. This was set up so she’d have to kill them. She cried out, her arm going up quickly to grab the wrist of the woman who was closest first. She twisted it quickly, hearing a snap, and was able to get the blade from her hand. The woman screamed and dropped to the ground, clutching at her wrist.

“Someone’s going to die here and it’s not going to be me.” The man informed her.

“No one has to die.” Alara said, backing away from him but holding her blade at the ready to defend herself. “That’s why I didn’t immediately kill her.”

“Then I’ll fucking do it, I don’t care.” He warned her. It had been an entire week at that point. She had no way to gauge what they had seen, done, or been told. Probably something along the lines of being killed if they refused to follow orders. Maybe they’d seen other crew killed for not following orders. Maybe they’d already been in some fights to the death and this was what they believed was their only chance for survival.

“I’m not going to fight you,” Alara told him. “We are all on the same crew, remember? We have weapons…we…we can stop this right here.”

“How?” He asked, “They have guns…we have swords, figure it out you stupid bitch.” He charged at her and she quickly turned and sidestepped him but he swung backward slicing her across her stomach. Nothing deep but it hurt, she cried out and doubled over for a moment before getting back into a fighting stance.

“STOP THIS!” She yelled at him. This seemed to wake Ed from whatever daze or drug he’d been put under and she saw him lift his head, his eyes opening. The moment he deduced what was happening he started to struggle and fight. That explained the restraints he had been put in.

“LET THEM GO!” Ed yelled angrily, only to be shocked with some sort of cattle prod looking device. Caught off guard by watching all of this allowed the woman on the ground to get the upper hand. She grabbed Alara’s ankle and yanked it forward. Since she wasn’t expecting that, she was pulled to the ground, landing hard on her back. She groaned loudly and closed her eyes.

“They aren’t going to stop until one of you three wins.” The voice informed her. “They’ve done this before.” The woman went to try to grab the knife from Alara’s hand and in a moment of panic she screamed and swung it, completely taking her arm off in the process. This caused both of them to scream again as she scrambled back. It wasn’t something she had even meant to do but she was terrified and because of her species and instinct, she was going into fight or flight mode. A human adrenaline rush was nothing compared to a Xelayan's and this was probably what that asshole had been banking on. That she couldn’t possibly lose.

“End her.” The voice ordered.

“NO!” Ed yelled, but it was too late, one of the guards by his side grabbed his pistol and shot her in the back of the head. Alara got to her feet just as the remaining crew member was running right at her. She tried her damnedest not to move, but if there was one thing she couldn’t ignore it was her instinct. She swung on him viciously at the very last moment, taking his head clean off. It wasn’t even something she was aware she’d done until she heard the thud of his body hitting the floor and her eyes opened. She screamed in horror and rage and threw her blade directly at one of the guards. It went right through his torso and he dropped like a ton of bricks.

“HEY!” The other guard yelled and pulled his gun, aiming it right at her.

“SHOOT ME! I DON’T CARE!” Alara screamed at him. The guard just grinned and put the weapon to Ed’s neck. “No…No, no no…no stop! STOP! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” She put her hands up and dropped to her knees quickly, keeping her hands where they could clearly be seen.

“You knew there’d be risks.” The voice said though it was obviously meant to be speaking to the guard and not her. “Just be thankful you weren’t the one she hit. You will receive the payment you were promised for the risk you took. No need to get upset.”

“Fuck that little whore.” He growled, “I don’t know what you see in her.” He shoved Ed forward and took a step back. Ed stumbled but stopped in front of her where she was kneeling with her head down she refused to look at him, she couldn’t.

“This was my punishment, not yours.” He said, “I’m sorry.”

“What?” She whispered.

“The fight to the death bullshit it was to punish me. I think it punished you more.” He said.

“YOU BASTARD!” She screamed and got up, but no sooner was she on her feet did she get a shock that sent her right back to the floor, curling her up and causing a pathetic pained mewling sound that she didn’t even know she could make.

“A captain has to make decisions. I thought I was making the best one I could. I thought I was calling their bluff.” He said, “It’s not an excuse it’s just a reason.”

“Fuck you…” She rasped, every nerve was on fire and she could barely move. The voltage of that shock was far higher than anything she’d been given before that point and she was having a hard time recovering from it as quickly as she normally would.

“Security is dismissed.” The voice said.

“Thank fuck for that.” He replied and hurried the hell out of there as if he were afraid he’d be the next to get hurt. He probably wasn’t wrong because there was no one else in there she was willing to kill other than the guard. As angry as she was at Ed for taking something to a level that she ended up killing two crew members in self-defense, even a tiny part of her could see the logic in him at least trying to call their bluff. See how far he could push things before he had to give in. It made sense in a way and casualties were going to have to be incurred. She hated that it was that way but there wasn’t much she could do about it now.

“Reward your pet.” The voice said next.

“Reward?” Both she and Ed said at the same time, except her voice was far weaker.

“She killed for you.”

“No, she killed for you, because you are a twisted fuck who gets off on this shit. That had nothing to do with me!” Ed insisted.

“She wouldn’t have had to do it, if not for you.” The voice said then laughed, “Reward her for being a good pet.”

“Fuck you,” Ed said.

“Reward how?” Alara asked, her voice a bit louder that time as her breathing started to return to normal and the pain began to subside to a far more tolerable level.

“He knows how.” The voice said, “We haven’t been training him on this shit for a week because we think he’s stupid.” Alara looked at Ed. His weight shifted from foot to foot nervously for a moment and then he tugged at his restraints a bit and shook his head.

“Can’t do it if my hands are-“ There was a loud buzz and suddenly the restraints came apart. He held them up to look at them. Looked like they could at least be deactivated by remote. “Good luck getting them back in place, fucker.”

“Do you really want to threaten him right now?” Alara sighed. “What does he want you to do?”

“Yes, fucker, explain what you are supposed to do.” The voice taunted sounding highly amused by this. Ed’s lip curled into a sneer, one that nearly matched the one of the captain, the one Alara had seen for a brief moment before getting struck because she looked him in the eye. Or at least, that had been her best guess to why she’d been hit. He hadn’t explained and she’d had a lot of time to consider it. Ed got down next to her and pulled her close.

“What are you doing?” She breathed looking him in the eye.

“Rewarding you.” He said with a clenched jaw, his hand moving to her cunt. In shock, she pulled her hand back like she was going to slap him a good one but he looked at her desperately. He was lucky she caught that when she did or he would have been struck and that would have been a bad situation for both of them. Instead, she put her hand on his shoulder and grabbed it tightly, enough that she knew it was painful but he was a good sport and didn’t let it show on his face. “Okay here’s the thing, he’s not going to let this stop either until you orgasm because you are my pet, you killed for me, and you deserve a reward.”

The way he said it while staring intently into her eyes denoted to her that she kind of had to let this happen but the tone implied that she could fake it as well. The problem was, that dick up there had to believe it. She was fairly sure he’d seen enough porn and real orgasms from Xelayans that he’d know if she was faking and she wasn’t a very good faker, to begin with. Since that was the situation she had no actual clue how she was going to get aroused enough to cum unless Ed knew some trick that she’d never heard of or experienced in her life. His hand came up to the back of her head and he moved her closer to him, pressing her face into his shoulder. As he did, she loosened her grip on him. He moved his mouth to her ear.

“I know it’s hard just try to relax. Just you and me here. That’s it.” He whispered very softly. It was almost as if he wasn’t speaking at all. She wondered if the microphones could pick up something that soft and directed right towards her skin. He may have just found a way to communicate that the guards couldn’t hear. It was a slow and methodical method but it was getting the job done. “I know what you are thinking, they can’t hear me when I do this. I’ve tested it. Repeatedly.” She let out a small whimper and pressed her face more into him, to let him know she understood but to also make it seem realistic to the situation as well. She was going to have to learn how to do this and quickly so she could save Kelly before it was too late.

“I don’t know if it helps,” He continued, “But I have liked you for a while. I know it’s not appropriate but fuck, none of this is, and maybe it will help. I don’t know.” He started to work her hand over the folds of her skin which were growing wetter with his touch. With the sound of his voice. She shifted, relaxing a bit more. He was right, it was the wrong time to admit that but it did make her feel better. Especially since she’d had a crush on him for a long time. Practically since they first met. It had started more as admiration but the longer she’d known him the deeper the feelings grew.

“Do you have any idea what you do to me? Why do you think I was watching Xelayan porn in the first place?” He kept going. She groaned softly and pressed her face into him more. The world around them kind of melted away. She could smell him, and he smelled nice. They were keeping him clean and well dressed for whatever reason. Probably aesthetic. It didn’t matter because it was helping keep the illusion as much as it needed to be kept. She lifted her head just a bit to get to his ear like he was at hers.

“What do you want to do to me?” She whispered, copying the same slow and breathy tone he had. Low, as if it could be a breeze. It was only meant for his ear, and she could very easily see how no microphones could pick it up that low, slow, and close in proximity. From the outside looking in, it wouldn’t seem as if they were talking at all. Just pressed close together.

“I think you know, you little Xelayan whore…” He breathed back. She let out a loud groan, not really meaning to but unable to hold back. Everything about this was wrong, she’d just brutally killed two of her crewmates but the taboo nature of this was amping up the eroticism. Her mind was cross wiring itself, and she’d be lying if she told herself or anyone that violence was not a big part of Xelayan foreplay. Even if it was mostly simulated these days. Historically it hadn’t been. There was something hardwired in her nature that would cause this. As she already knew, if she could find a way to enjoy this she should. Just let go and accept it. It would be so much easier that way. “You really do like that then, huh?”

“Yes, sir.”

“What else would you like then? My cock?” He breathed. She could feel his body getting hotter, his fingers moving, she was now aroused enough to easily penetrate so he slipped one in, then a second. She moaned and thrust down towards his hand heavily, starting to nip at the small area of skin near his cheek and earlobe as he continued. “You dirty little slut.”

“More…” She panted in his ear.

“Bet you liked having my cock in your mouth too.” He breathed, “You were practically begging for it.”

“Yes…”

“How bad did you want my cum? Huh?” He encouraged her. He shifted a bit, his hand working faster, a thumb brushing over her clit provoking a scream of pleasure as well as a violent shudder. She bucked towards him.

“Bad…so bad, sir.”

“Fuck…” He groaned, she was starting to pick up on the fact that he liked being called sir in this situation, not that it really mattered since she liked calling him sir and in the moment it was very easy to forget where they were and that anyone was watching them. Without very much of a warning his hand moved from her cunt, she lifted her head to look at him, breathing hard, when he grabbed her by her hips and pulled her onto his cock roughly. She cried out and grabbed onto him tightly, her body immediately shivering into climax. Her face back at his neck, pressing into it as she thrust towards him in what felt like painfully hard motions.

“Oh fuck…” she whined.

“Who said you could cum like that? You dirty little bitch…” He growled though that was much louder and she was too lost in the moment to care. He laid her down on her back, keeping her completely pinned as he really started to ram into her. Her head started to turn a bit but his hand came up and pushed his back, holding it there so she had no choice but to look him in the eyes. “No you look at me, you look at your Master when he’s fucking you.”

“Y-Yes sir.” She said loudly. He grinned and started to work his hips, nice and hard thrusts. Either he knew that this brutal pace wouldn’t hurt her like it would hurt human women, or he didn’t care. She didn’t know but she liked either idea for some reason. She liked seeing him like this. She liked this level of control that’s part of the reason she admired him in the first place. His ability to take control and command. His hand slipped to her throat, a gentle hold, not a choke.

“Say it…say I’m your Master.”

“W-what?”

“FUCKING SAY IT!” He ordered her. Her eyes went wide with shock but her body reacted with more pleasure, her hips arching up towards him involuntarily and her legs pulling back to let him invade her even deeper than before.

“Master…” She breathed, “FUCK ME, MASTER! FUCK ME HARD!”

“Fuck…” He groaned and after a few more especially brutal thrusts his body went stiff and he came, letting out a loud nearly animalistic sounding roar. It was very territorial too if she had to describe it. Closely resembling the conquering roar of a Xelayan male. She didn’t know what had gotten into him but she liked it, and she hated herself for liking it as well. His hips twitched and jerked as his orgasm subsided, triggering her into a second one. One that she hadn’t even realized she was close to because she was so lost in the moment. She let out a small cry and he pulled her into a passionate kiss, biting her bottom lip as he growled softly.

“None of that, no kissing the pets.” The voice said, completely shattering the illusion that they were alone, to begin with. Alara broke out of her daze as Ed pulled back and stared at her, almost in horror. Once again, both of them coming to terms with realizing what they had done and what had just happened. Not only that but where it had happened and who for. He moved back from her quickly after that point and made himself decent before getting to his feet. His legs a bit shaky. She curled up, trying to hide as much as she could.

“She’s mine.” Ed said very firmly, with a commanding tone Alara didn’t believe she’d ever heard, “She’s mine and I will do with her as I wish. This is what you wanted, isn’t it? For me to tame the Xelayan beast. Have I not done that for you and your men? Do I not deserve rightful ownership?” She knew why he was saying that and it was kind of offensive yet kind of hot. Yeah, a week being brutalized in that place was definitely getting to her.

“Prove it.” The voice said.

“How?” Ed demanded. Alara looked at him, he didn’t look back but she knew whatever he was told to order her to do next she was going to have to do it without hesitation to prove to them that she was trained, at least by him. A pregnant silence hung in the air for a long moment before the doors opened and a very dirty and beaten down looking man was shoved into the room. He looked far more like he was being held prisoner there than anything else.

“This one is scheduled for execution anyway. Order her to kill him. Without hesitation. I’m not even going to give you 30 seconds. We’ll see how loyal to you she actually is. Consider that anything less than total obedience will be considered a lie and you will feel my wrath.” The voice explained. Ed took a deep breath and turned to Alara. His face, especially his eyes, denoted that he understood if she wouldn’t do it but he didn’t have much time for anything else.

“Kill him for me, Pet.” He commanded in a very firm and serious tone. She got up and grabbed a sword from the floor near by and without any more hesitation, pleading, or trying to stall for time, she ran at the man decapitating him with a very brutal scream of rage. The body dropped, along with the sword and she turned towards Ed. She walked towards him and then dropped to her knees, attempting to show submission, even if it was just a show. Ed, pale as a ghost and shaking a bit, now having seen four kills that day, took a deep breath and folded his arms proudly over his chest. “What did I tell you? She’s mine and I have her tamed. Can’t guarantee anyone else’s safety but you didn’t say I had to do that.” There was a long pause.

“Fair enough.” The voice replied. “Wait there, we will have the guards come and collect you for transport to your new quarters.” Once it was silent again, Ed dropped down to his knees and pulled her in close, holding her tightly. She pressed her face into his neck starting to cry.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” He breathed, using the soft and secret tone that was now their only private means of communication. She nodded her head because she understood and she was sorry too but she wasn’t going to be able to speak it quietly. The only way she could justify any of this was she didn’t know the guy and if they were going to execute him any way she probably didn’t have a chance if she had attempted to plead for his life. She just hoped that the others never found out and if they did, they’d find a way to understand why this was being done. She’d never be able to live with herself otherwise.


	5. Apologetic Secrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mentions of snuff in this chapter, it's not described it's just mentioned so that's pretty awful. There is like one small Daddy kink moment but it's somewhat explained in the story it's not extended so if you don't like that be aware of that. I dunno, I'm surprised this has any readers at all but here we are. Thank you for your support.

There was a bit of an argument over if it was necessary to restrain Alara to get her back to Ed’s quarters but she wasn’t part of the argument she just stayed quiet and submissive knowing that her best bet was not to say anything around him or look like she was trying to fight anyone. Ed had to look like he was in control of her as much as she hated it. Eventually, it was forced upon them with him locking her into place again with her arms behind her back. They left the arena and it was a very long walk back to his quarters, a few decks up as well. Once they were inside and locked in, Ed walked over to the incredibly nice bed and sat down on it. Alara looked around, a bit stunned by this.

The room was huge and warm. It had carpet. It also had a couch, a screen for viewing media and even a replicator. Near his bed was another dog bed which she was assuming was for her. Still, with as warm as it was in here she’d be fine with that but was _this where he had been living?_ _This whole time?_ She looked over at him not understanding how he was a prisoner but also living in such luxury. This had to be a trick. She opened her mouth but he shook his head.

“Let’s get you cleaned up, Pet.” He said in a commanding tone then came over to her and grabbed her arm to drag her into the bathroom. She didn’t resist much, and hell, even the bathroom was nice. A tub large enough to fit two people and a separate shower area. He was living in the lap of goddamn luxury. The door shut and he went to the tub and sat on the edge of it. “I know what you are thinking but trust me…please just trust me this isn’t anything I asked for okay?”

“Sir…”

“We can talk in here this is the one place without monitoring devices I checked. Probably because no one on this ship is interested in watching a guy take a crap.” He said, “We can’t spend forever in here but if they think I’m bathing you then, we have time to talk.”

“A bath actually would be really nice but uh…the restraints?” She asked.

“Right, sorry.” He moved behind her quickly and took them off, tossing them aside. She moved to the tub and started to run the water then looked over at him.

“What happened in there…”

“I…I’m not sure what to say.” He said, “Whatever you think is-“

“I liked it.” She whispered looking away from him, “I know I shouldn’t. I know what they are doing too. They are tricking my body by triggering certain responses that are beyond my control. They are instinctual survival mechanisms. They are things that my species learned to control and bury but they can be triggered by the right situations. This, all of this, they are pulling it out of me. Maybe this isn’t the best time to tell you all of this stuff but it’s true and I feel awful and sick and…”

“It’s okay.” He said, “I…I think I feel the exact same thing. Shame and anger and fear but, genuine feelings for you. They say trauma bonds people.”

“I think we had that bond far before now.” She said, “We just didn’t talk about it.” He nodded.

“It’s going to get worse, I know what they want.” He said, “I see you figured out following orders and pretending to be obedient is better than actually breaking down?”

“Yes,” She said and turned, “Kelly hasn’t and I couldn’t exactly explain it to her when-“

“You saw Kelly? Oh God, how is she?”

“Uh…” She looked down at her hands again, “She’s alive and she’s still as stubborn as you remember her.”

“And the part you aren’t telling me is?”

“It’s a part you don’t want to know.” She said, “You won’t be able to sleep at night if I tell you that part.”

“That bad, huh?” He asked.

“Worse.” She slipped into the tub since it was mostly full but still let the water run. It felt so nice, finally, she was warming up but she’d also be able to get clean and the hot water would be amazing on her aching body.

“Her and I have our differences but I would never want this for her.” He said.

“I know. Me either.” She said, “We either have to figure out a way to tell her she needs to behave and why, or we risk having her completely broken and brainwashed by the time we see her next.”

“And when is that?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” She replied.

“We need a better plan than waiting around and doing nothing.” He insisted. “I just don’t know what that is.”

“You said there was an explanation for this? This room I mean. Why it’s so nice for you here. What is that?”

“Oh…” He said, “They are trying to entice me to join their crew and be a damn pirate with them. As if I’d ever do that by choice. I also don’t see how it’s supposed to work with them threatening to kill my crew every five minutes, not to mention actually killing my crew. I keep trying to work out deals with them but then I blow it when I get angry and defiant. That’s why you ended up where you did. I tried to pretend I didn’t care. It seemed to be working for a minute but I didn’t think they’d actually do what they were threatening because I thought I was giving them what they wanted. I did not mean for that to happen and you-“

“I know you didn’t.” She said then reached to turn the water off and grabbed the soap. She smelled it and smiled. It was going to be so nice not to smell like sweat, blood, and dirt. She looked at him and started to wash herself. Normally she might have been a bit more modest but considering she had been doing a lot of kinky shit with him the past few times they’d seen each other she didn’t really see a point and he wasn’t overly focused on watching her (even if he was watching her). She really couldn’t blame him for it, as long as he didn’t get incredibly distracted from the conversation she’d let it slide. “What were they threatening you with when you punched me?”

“Huh?” He asked, “You mean the other day? I told you, they said they’d kill Kelly.”

“No, you said they’d kill Kelly if I didn’t suck your dick.” She said, “Then you refused to hit me and they told you that…”

“It’s not important.”

“I think it is.” She said. “What were they going to do if you didn’t hit me, why did you get more upset over that than…well, Kelly.”

“I was perfectly upset over Kelly.” He snapped.

“You weren’t nearly as panicked.” She said, “I heard it in your voice you were scared, possibly the first time I’ve heard you be scared, well more scared than angry. What did they tell you they’d do?” He shook his head and stood up, pacing for a moment before stopping.

“They told me you’d be taken away from me and given to the Captain and I’d…have to watch him destroy you. I mean like…have you ever heard of snuff films?” He asked.

“What?”

“They weren’t fucking around either I know because I saw one…I mean with that captain. Not by choice but I saw it myself. The thought of that happening to you? I mean…not that I want Kelly to die but that’s not what they threatened to do to her.”

“Snuff?”

“It’s…wow I’m really going to have to explain this to you aren’t I?” He asked.

“I can gather that part of it means death but I’m not sure I understand what you are talking about otherwise.” She said and continued to get cleaned up.

“Snuff films are like…sexualized death. It’s pretty much rape and murder emphasis on the rape kind of being the murder part.” He said. This startled her so much that the soap slipped completely out of her hand and flew across the room, hitting the wall. It wasn’t even just the idea that it would have been done to her but the additional thought that he’d had to sit through a film like that, and watch it, most likely with a Xelayan female and it was real. _No, no…it had to be a fake, right? A simulation…yes the captain had faked that but_ … **God** , _how could she believe that with what was happening to her right now?_ She felt sick.

“You watched that?” She asked, “Ed I…”

“Don’t talk about it just don’t I really don’t want to think about what I saw. She looked like-“

“Don’t you dare finish that sentence.” Alara snapped at him. He went to pick up the soap and brought it back to her. She knew he was going to say the girl in the video looked like her and that was probably done on purpose. She didn’t have the most uncommon look ever when it came to Xelayan females and her hairstyle was pretty common there too (along with color). She doubted this victim was identical to her or even close just similar enough that it would make him think of her which would also cause him to panic if the same punishment was threatened.

“Well, what do we do? We got about five more minutes before they consider us to be suspicious in here.” He said.

“We continue doing what we are doing until we earn their trust and you suddenly do a 180 and start wanting to join them. I mean, not in a super obvious it’s a trick way just you know…start playing more into it. See what you can get away with.” She said, “Baby steps.”

“I tried that with the crew and-“

“We need to try again. You got ownership of me, didn’t you?” She asked.

“Let’s see how long you actually enjoy it before you get too smug.” He stood up and left the room. She sighed and finished cleaning herself. As she was getting out of the tub and drying off he came back in with a sandwich and a glass of something. She looked at him.

“Eat it, fast.” He said. She looked around but took it from him and chowed down as fast as possible on the sandwich because she wanted that the most. Then she took the glass from his hand and started to gulp that down before she realized it was tequila. Xelayan tequila to be exact. “What? You wanted something else?”

“No, but I can’t exactly gulp down this much tequila quickly.” She told him and took another big gulp, then a deep breath. “Fuck…this is going to get me kinda buzzed.”

“Yeah, that’s kind of the point.” He said.

“Ed if you want to sleep with me-“

“It’s more to keep you a bit docile depending on what they might request.” He said, “Pretty sure I can sleep with you if I want.”

“Oh really?” She asked and finished the tequila and handed the glass back to him, “Besides that’s only going to get me buzzed but you are right, it will relax me.”

“Good enough.” He said and then set the plate and glass down on the counter. He grabbed her arm roughly. “I apologize in advance for how I have to behave out there. You know why.”

“Yeah, I know.” She said. They were going to have to keep up pretenses if they were also being monitored and it was certain they would be because Ed already told her that he checked for cameras and the bathroom was the only place without them. He yanked her back out into the bedroom area and shoved her down to the ground.

“Pets crawl.” He said in firm voice. She looked up at him and nodded before going over to the dog bed and laying down on it. He straighten out his shirt and then walked to his bed, laying down on it before grabbing the small remote that would work the view screen so they could watch something. Anything really to pass the time. She didn’t care. The sandwich was enough to make her feel full and satisfied and the buzz from the alcohol was making her relaxed and warm. She drifted off before Ed could even decide what he wanted to watch.

* * *

“Is there a problem in here?” Alara woke to the sound of that British asshole again. She only opened one of her eyes.

“What? No…Blake no problem.” Ed said.

“You haven’t used her once.” He replied. At least now she knew his name was Blake. She wasn’t exactly surprised that an asshole like him would have a typically assholish name like Blake though. She had to clench her jaw tightly to keep from making a comment about it.

“Well, it has been a pretty busy day.” Ed said, “I’m kind of tired.”

“Don’t make me question if I was wrong about you and her.” He said, “Pets are allowed in rooms for a reason, if you aren’t going to use her then don’t expect to keep her here until you are ready. You aren’t lying to me are you?”

“Lying?” He asked, “Look, guy, I’m no spring chicken with endless sexual energy. Need a bit of turn around time if you catch my drift. Not like it’s been easy for me the past few days.” Blake came over to her and nudged her with his foot. She opened her eyes fully and looked up at him but stayed silent.

“And you…well…I suppose we can do something about you to help him out a bit.” Blake said then grinned. She really didn’t like the sound of that. She turned to look at Ed but all this got her was a boot pressed to the side of her face, pushing her down to her bed against and pinning her there firmly. She growled angrily.

“I don’t need help. I’m just tired.” Ed insisted. “You’ll see. Tomorrow, I’m gonna be all over that.”

“I hope for her sake, you’re right. My wall would look very nice with her head on it.” Blake warned him then removed his boot from her face and walked out of there. Alara shifted her glance towards him as she sat up. That was another part he’d entirely left out of what he’d told her before. She leaned down and crawled towards the bed looking at him insistently. He just stared at her stupidly for a moment before he seemed to realize what she was waiting for.

“Yes, get on the bed, pet.” He told her. She crawled up onto the bed and he laid back as he pulled her on top of him and she curled up around him getting her mouth near his ear like before.

“His name is Blake?” She whispered he wrapped his arms around her and moved his own head so he could get his mouth closer to her ear.

“Yes.”

“Worst name ever but not surprising.” She replied. He snorted back a laugh and ran his hand over her back gently like he was petting her. It may have been demeaning but it also felt nice and she knew he had to play it up for the cameras so she didn’t protest or try to get away from him. “He has Xelayan heads on his wall? When were you going to tell me that?”

“I was hoping you wouldn’t find out.” He said.

“I kind of wished I didn’t.” She sighed and closed her eyes, this bed was much more comfortable and he was so warm. It was a very nice moment of closeness until she felt something poking into her stomach. “Ed…”

“Sorry.” He whispered, “I told you I really like you. You are laying naked on top of me. What do you want me to do about it?” He had a point and it wasn’t like they were going to get away with not having sex while they were in there together. Blake seemed to want her to get ‘used’ a certain amount which he considered normal (whatever that number was) so she was going to have to start getting used to it. Besides, maybe she could use this as an excuse to sleep in an actual bed. Fucking him and then they both fell asleep together. It was worth a shot she supposed. If they got yelled at they’d then later know not to do it again.

“What do you want to do about?” She whispered.

“Alara, what they expect is…they don’t want it to be nice. If we do this and we are going to have to it’s going to need to be rough…borderline brutal every single time. Not romantic.” He explained, “They think of you as an animal, a sexual animal, not some sort of…”

“I don’t know where you are going with that but don’t finish it.” She said, “I understand we need to do what we need to do and I can’t say I entirely hate this new dominant side I’m seeing. Even if it comes at a price that is hard to ignore, but I can ignore it if I force myself to focus on only what I like. We can get through this if we don’t dwell on the negative. In fact, that’s probably the only way we will.”

“How do you feel about anal?” The moment he asked that his grip on her tightened significantly as if he could sense that she was about to attack the hell out of him for asking and she kind of was because that question came out of nowhere and though she couldn’t say she was adamantly opposed to it, she’d never done it, nor did she want to try it on that ship with him in front of a bunch of people.

“Ed…”

“What? It’s in the manual I can’t help it.”

“Manual?”

“I’ll…show you when I get a chance.” He whispered, “Anyway we are going to have to do something soon or they’ll get suspicious so I’m about to get rough. Try not to hate me.”

“I’ll try…” She whispered but suddenly he had switched their positions, gotten up behind her and pulled her onto her hands and knees. She could have easily fought this, and he probably knew that but she knew better than to try and even worse, she actually kind of enjoyed it. The idea that someone could dominate her, even a human. Yes, she was letting him technically, but the idea really turned her on more than it should have.

“You like that you dirty little bitch?” He snarled at her reaching forward to grab her hair and yank it back. “You will behave!” He slapped her across the ass roughly causing her to yelp and jerk a bit. He was strong and showing her barely any mercy but the good news in all of this was that she could take it far better than a human so at very least no one else was in this position to have to take it. He slapped her ass again.

“Yes…sir, sorry sir!” She cried.

“What was that?” He demanded and slapped her ass again.

“YES MASTER! I WILL BEHAVE!” She yelled.

“That’s what I thought.” He snapped and slapped her ass again. He gave her hair one good final yank before letting go. She turned to look at him. He was definitely aroused and far more than just normal level aroused he was really going to go at it in a moment. It was around then it dawned on her why he was so apologetic despite her trying to reassure him it was okay. He liked this, a lot, probably far more than her (or at least far more than he believed she liked it) and that’s why he kept apologizing. If she wasn’t sure she felt the exact same way it might have been an issue. This was just something neither of them wanted to mention to each other and she was wondering if it was better that way. She didn’t know. He slammed into her from behind causing her to moan and drop down to the bed, pressing her face into the pillow.

“Fuck…” She whispered.

“You going to behave from now on? Huh? Behave for Daddy?” He growled and slapped her ass again as he started to thrust. This got another moan out of here before she really digested what he had said. Her eyes went wide as she not only questioned her own kinks but his. That wasn’t something she’d ever been into in the past but _hearing him say it?_ **Fuck**. She glanced at him but he was still going at it and she was fairly sure he was entirely unaware that he said Daddy instead of Master. There was only one way to find out how far this was going to go.

“Yes…Yes Daddy I’ll behave.” She whined. There was a brief pause, and her eyes shifted to look back at him.

“Oh, you’re a naughty girl aren’t you?” He panted then chuckled darkly as he started again, seemingly more fueled by what she’d replied with. She was able to breathe a small sigh of relief because she’d had no idea how he’d react to that and when he’d stopped she’d assumed she’d done something wrong. Well, this was all wrong but the good kind of wrong that made it right again. Made it forbidden and erotic. “That’s right you take my cock and you fucking like it you bitch.”

“Mmm give it to me…it’s what I deserve…M-Master.” She only dropped the whole “daddy” thing because she didn’t think it was on purpose to begin with, even though she kind of wanted to continue with it he hadn’t so she thought it might be a misstep. He did really seem to like hearing her say ‘Master’ though. He reached under her and found her clit which he started to rub firmly with his two fingers. She screamed out in pleasure, her hands clawing at the sheets under her.

“Close…Oh God!”

“Don’t you fucking cum until I tell you to, you hear me!” He yelled.

“PLEASE!” She whined, she didn’t know how he expected her not to cum with what he was doing and she wasn’t sure what to expect if she didn’t listen. She clenched her teeth tightly and held her breath trying to fight it off but she was so close. Suddenly, his hand moved from there, at least allowing her relief for a moment, she started to breathe again panting heavily, only to turn and see him licking his fingers. He seemed to be in pure heaven, though what he did next was entirely unexpected as his hand moved to her ass and a finger slipped in quickly.

She screamed out, her body tensing up tightly in pain and pleasure, something she’d never felt before because she had never allowed anyone to even attempt doing that to her. _Fuck it was amazing_.

“That’s right…cum for me now.” He told her in a breathy voice and she was glad he did because she was unable to stop herself. And orgasm she never dreamed she could have took over he body causing her to buck and shake. He started to thrust again, but not for long as his climax was right behind hers and once again he was extremely vocal about it. To a level where she didn’t think he could even control it, it was involuntary and definitely genuine. No one could have faked that kind of reaction. Her hips bucked and shock, her walls clenching around his cock as she had two complete orgasms before going limp and he let her slide down completely onto the bed, he was on top of her. His weight wasn’t unpleasant it was comforting in a way. She kind of liked it. She smiled and closed her eyes but it only lasted about 30 seconds before he got up and hurried into the bathroom.

“Sir?” She called behind him softly.

“STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” He commanded loudly through the door of the bathroom. She wasn’t going to disobey an order like that, but she figured he only had ordered it so she had a reason to keep laying in his bed. Otherwise, there would be that stupid rule about pets not being in beds invoked and she really didn’t want to have to sleep on the floor alone once this was over. He was in the bathroom for a good ten minutes more than he needed to be, she closed her eyes and pretended to go to sleep wondering what exactly was going on.

When he came back out he wasn’t wearing a shirt, just his slacks, he got into bed with her and pulled her in close to him, an oddly romantic yet possessive hold. Her back was to him and his mouth was near her ear. She wouldn’t be able to talk to him in this position but she didn’t think that’s what he wanted away. She allowed him to pin her in place like that as she felt maybe this desperate hold was helping him cope with something in some way.

“I shouldn’t have done that.” He whispered, “Don’t say anything don’t tell me it was okay just let me feel this for a moment.” He told her. She nodded and closed her eyes. He was obviously going through something she didn’t understand he didn’t care to explain to her. Though there were clues to possibly figure it out, she didn’t know exactly how he was feeling and couldn’t know unless he told her which he didn’t seem intent on doing. She was getting the idea that there was more than meets the eye with this particular situation. He was so apologetic and seemed especially ashamed of himself after he did anything to her. She didn’t think it was because he didn’t like her and she believed him when he said his feelings for her were genuine so what was it? What was he hiding otherwise that was making him act this way? It was something that probably would have kept her up for much longer if she hadn’t been completely satisfied by that aggressive fuck but as it was, she was asleep only minutes later finally being able to relax for the first time in a week.


	6. Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's some kind of dub-con Alara/Kelly stuff in this chapter also other rather distasteful but rather realistic situations, oh and violence...lots of it, so you've been warned.

“I need to borrow your- why is it on the bed?” Blake asked coming through the door randomly at the time Alara could only assume was morning.

“Huh?” Ed asked barely awake by that point. Alara elbowed him under the covers and he became more alert trying not to indicate that it had caused him any actual pain. He sat up and then yawned, his gaze slowly turning towards Blake. “Right well you know, shit happens. Fell asleep on top of it I guess.” Blake just rolled his eyes but Alara did too.

“Well, if you want that filthy thing in your bed fine but if you catch some sort of parasite I’m not going to treat it.” Blake said, “Anyway, I need to borrow her so command her to behave with me.” Ed seemed to wake up completely at that point and he looked at Alara. She really did not want to do this because Blake was a very fucked up person. It took all her willpower not to shake her head and only stare at him trying to plead. He pleaded back at her with his eyes. She knew this was another test and he did as well. She was going to have to do it but she was already sick with the thought.

“Go with the captain, behave, do whatever he says.” Ed told her then looked back at Blake, “But she is mine so if she is disobedient I administer the punishments.”

“Yes, I know you’d enjoy that very much,” Blake said and snapped his fingers at Alara. The way he said it made her very suspicious because it sounded like Blake knew something. Something more than Ed had already told her and when she looked at Ed to attempt to confirm this he wasn’t looking at her. He just got up and headed towards the bathroom again.

“Sir I have to pee.” Alara tried to call after him because she really did.

“No one cares what you have to do, you get permission or you wait.” Blake snapped at her. Alara knew this really could only end one way and it wasn’t going to be a good one. He snapped his fingers at her again. “Let’s go, pet.” She clenched her jaw and gave him a very fake smile before crawling off of the bed and down near him. He headed out and she crawled behind him quickly trying to keep up because she most certainly didn’t want to get punished for being slow. Hell, she was sure by the end of this day he was going to make up some punishment just so he’d have an excuse to watch Ed give it to her and _what the hell was up with that statement, about Ed enjoying it?_ At least she still had her wits about her and she hadn’t been broken and destroyed it allowed her to think and figure things out. Even if it was very slowly.

“I have a task for you and since your Master has ordered you to obey me I do expect you to comply.” Blake said, “After which point we are going to have a bit of a talk. By which I mean I will talk to you. Understood? You may say yes sir or nothing.”

“Yes, sir.” She muttered.

“Good girl.” He said and patted her on the head. She nearly bit his hand for that but made herself hold back. She was taken to some sort of lift and they were moved to what she believed was the very top deck. She was paying attention to everything trying to learn the layout of this place because she knew a time would have to come when she’d have to run and she’d have to be getting people out of here and it was best to know where things were and how to get to them.

Once they were at the top, they headed down a short hallway and entered an incredibly nice room. It was about three or four times the size of what Ed had gotten and it was just the lounge area. Kelly was laying on the floor in the center of the room. A collar around her neck similar to the one she had on her own neck. She was in one of those slutty dresses again, this one was purple, the shoes matched and appeared to be locked onto her feet by the ankles. Other than that she appeared unharmed she was just knocked out cold. Possibly drugged.

“Fuck her.” Blake said and went to take a seat on a nearby couch. Alara’s jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. She knew she had to obey this but she’d never even been with a woman. Not that she had anything against that or even Kelly but she didn’t even know the first place to start with this and the woman was passed out. There couldn’t even be consent involved in this. “If I have to tell you that I’m giving you 30 seconds, your Master will be punishing you later so, what’s it going to be, pet?” He reached into his jacket and pulled out a cigarette. She didn’t think anyone still even did that, but then again these were pirates. She cleared her throat and crawled towards Kelly. Well, maybe she could fake it until she figured it out. It didn’t help that she still really had to pee and Blake seemed not to care, this entire situation was as uncomfortable as it could possibly be. Well, she could start with touching, and she knew what she as a female liked, so how hard could this actually be?

She leaned over Kelly and got near her ear, whispering like Ed had taught her to do, she doubted it would wake her if she was passed out but she had to try or else she was going to feel very bad about doing this to a woman who was not even awake to tell her yes or no.

“Kelly I’m very sorry but I have to do this.” She breathed and slowly put her hands on the woman’s breasts through the fabric of her dress, caressing them gently trying to figure out how to do this as she went along because she had no clue. She heard a sound and ducked her head down moving it more towards Kelly’s neck. She slowly turned her head.

“I know.” She whispered back. Alara wasn’t sure if it was because she was weak or she realized that she had to be quiet right now.

“Any tips here?” Alara whispered back and in one very quick motion ripped the dress open to expose her completely.

“Never done this before either,” Kelly whispered. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

 **Fuck**. _This wasn’t good_. Alara looked over at Blake who looked very amused. Almost as if he knew this was the situation and they were both just going to fail hard at trying to pull this off. She glared at him but didn’t say anything.

“Need help you dumb cunt?” Blake asked her. She remembered that what he said before, that her answers could either be ‘yes sir’ or nothing so she didn’t say anything. She went back to trying to pay attention to Kelly. It wasn’t like she was unaware of how women were supposed to have sex she’d just never done it. Natural curiosity had gotten her at least to a point of seeing lesbian porn even if it hadn’t done much for her. She did find Kelly attractive though and felt at points in time she could even be attracted to Kelly but the problem was that this was way too fast for her to sit there and justify what her feelings were. She finished ripping the dress completely and moved to kiss at Kelly’s chest softly, getting to one of her nipples which she took in her mouth and sucked on, using her tongue a bit to apply pressure to the sensitive nub here and there. Kelly moaned softly. She was kind of surprised by this but it was a good sign at least, _right?_

She started to move down more, kissing at Kelly’s skin, working her tongue over it and glancing up at her every so often. Kelly’s head raised a bit, watching her, no doubt curious to what was about to happen and where this was going. Alara moved back onto her knees, bouncing a bit, trying to ignore the urge she had to pee and put her fingers in her mouth. She sucked on them for a moment and then moved in again, slipping one into Kelly. She started to work it in and out, attempting to mimic what she’d do to herself which was actually much harder on another person but it was getting results.

“Use your mouth,” Blake ordered her. Alara turned to look at him, “You think it’s any worse than having your Master’s cock in there?” She felt Kelly tense when she heard that so her head snapped back in the other direction and she gave Kelly a warning look.

“Yeah, you think it’s worse than his cock?” She growled. Alara had no clue if this was out of genuine anger or because she’d picked up on the fact that she was supposed to treat her like a pet. She actually had no clue what any of that was. Though they did have a point, and now she was irritated. If they were going to be this way she was going to make damn sure Kelly had one of the best orgasms ever.

She removed her finger and got down placing her mouth over the other woman’s cunt, starting to work her tongue firmly over the wet folds she was greeted with. This got a near instant reaction from Kelly. Her head was grabbed and her hair twisted tightly into her fingers. Alara glanced up at her and kept working at it. She knew about the pressure her tongue could cause. She knew because of how Ed had reacted. She also knew the female anatomy despite never having to have put her mouth on it. She was doing every last trick with her tongue she could think of just to prove a point about all of this.

“Oh my god where the hell did you learn this?” Kelly panted, she was attempting very hard to push Alara down more but due to her strength, it was barely a problem to resist it. “Did you do this to Ed?”

“No need to bring that up,” Blake warned. Alara growled in annoyance but this really only caused the vibrations to hit Kelly just right. She cried out and yanked back on Alara’s hair, twisting under her. Her heels kicked at the carpeted floor under her roughly, her other hand clawing at the ground. She kept going and kept growling because it really seemed to be driving Kelly crazy. It worked well until the woman eventually orgasmed and a leg kicked out, getting Alara in the arm. It wouldn’t have been so bad except she was impaled by the stiletto heel. She screamed out and ended up slipping, biting Kelly’s thigh angrily. Kelly slapped the side of her head which got her to release and yank back, pulling the stiletto from her arm.

“FUCK!” Kelly yelled.

“YOU FUCKING STABBED ME WITH YOUR SHOE!”

“YOU DIDN’T HAVE TO BITE ME!” Kelly yelled back at her, sitting up and grabbing at her leg which was bleeding pretty badly. Luckily, Alara had just missed the femoral artery which would have meant death for Kelly pretty quickly, especially if their medical equipment was subpar and Blake had no intention of trying to get her to sickbay. As it was, both injuries now had a decent chance of infection. Alara then realized what she’d done and how much worse it was going to be on her. She looked at Blake quickly, feeling blood run down her chin, but she froze being able to do nothing in her terror in the moment. This was going to be bad.

Blake got up quickly and came towards her. She scrambled backward but he was quick. He grabbed her by her ear, she screamed loudly in pain and subsequently ended up pissing herself a moment later.

“Oh, you’re just begging for it aren’t you?” He growled. She tried to get away from him, not to mention stop peeing, but none of that was working so she was forced to sit there in place and just wait for it to stop while he continued to twist her ear. He grinned down at her evilly, “I at least assumed he had your house trained.”

“FUCK YOU!” She spat against her best wishes, it just came out before she could stop it. This at least got him to release her ear but he backhanded her hard enough to send her to the floor, which really only ended up with her landing in a puddle of her own urine. She screamed angrily. Blake laughed and stepped back from her, he moved his foot back like he was going to kick her but Kelly scrambled up and grabbed his leg.

“Let go of me you dumb slut!” He snapped.

“Don’t…” Kelly begged him, “She’s not yours, remember?” He narrowed his gaze at her.

“Either I kick her or I kick you,” Blake warned.

“Kelly-“

“YOU DON’T SPEAK!” Blake roared at her. His voice was painfully loud too, it felt like he could even make the walls shake getting that loud, all it made her do was cower but she did go silent.

“Kick me then,” Kelly said.

“Kelly don’t-“

Blake didn’t even hesitate after she said that, he turned and shoved her off of his leg and kicked her in the back, right at her kidneys. She couldn’t even scream, the reaction was violent as the very air was knocked out of her lungs from the pain. She curled up and gagged heavily managing not to vomit, Alara assumed it probably had to do with lack of being fed. Blake got down and grabbed Alara by the hair to pull her up to her hands and knees.

“Come with me, NOW!” Blake snapped. Alara looked over at Kelly, she didn’t know how Kelly even knew about this deal where Ed owned her, nor did she think it was right for her to take that kick in her stead but she was grateful for it regardless. “You clean all of this up, bitch.”

“Yes…sir.” She replied very weakly. Alara was starting to consider that as much as she may now be owned by Ed, Kelly had become this man’s property which was why she was in here, to begin with and rather docile about it. She did have a collar on now and that usually tended to signify ownership. Blake gave Alara one more good yank to get her moving behind him and she started to crawl behind him into the room he went into next, which appeared to be an office type room. He got down by her and put his cigarette out on her back causing her to scream and collapse to the ground before he stepped over her and went to sit at his desk. He put his feet up on it and sighed.

“Do you know why we chose your ship?” He asked.

“Because you’re an asshole.” She muttered.

“What did I tell you your answers were?”

“Yes, sir.” She growled.

“Good.” He replied, “Anyway, it’s very risky to attack union ships as you know but, this one caught our eye. Mostly because of the computer activity of your captain. Do you know what I’m talking about?” She shook her head.

“Oh, then you are going to just love this.” He laughed, “Now, Ed’s a decent man I’m sure. He’s a rule breaker though. Big one. Easy enough to research once we were able to hack into your servers. Every ship is an opportunity it doesn’t hurt us to check right? Well, we found that your Captain was very big into Xelayan fetish porn. Interestingly enough, it was porn featuring you.”

“What?” She asked.

“Is that four punishments now or five?” He asked, “Honestly I’ve lost track you’ve just been awful this whole time. Moving on…” He motioned to the view screen on the wall behind him, using a remote to turn it on. She shifted so she could look at what he was talking about. “We found this in his data feed.”

There wasn’t any video up, at least not yet. It was just a list of videos. There were about twenty different ones there, one near the bottom was titled ‘ **work in progress** ’ which wasn’t one selected it was just there. Probably just for her benefit. She started to feel her blood run cold. She shook her head. This had to be a lie, had to be one. It would be very easy to fake this stuff and just say Ed had it. That’s all she could believe. Anyone could easily make simulations of anyone else, in any way they wanted, and Blake had an entire week to do this and then pretend that Ed had done it first. That had to be the case because if she believed anything else she was going to go into a full on rage and get everyone there killed.

He selected the fifth video on the list and let it play. Sure enough, it was her and Ed in his office and he was really going at her. All in simulation, of course, but still. She was restrained, on her knees and he was straight up choking her with his cock. The dirtiest, most vile, and horrible things she could imagine spewing angrily from his mouth as the video continued. She was pissed off but even worse she found it arousing, she couldn’t help herself. She didn’t want to be here and she completely hated this. All of it. It was a lie, all of it was a lie. Except Ed…he’d been acting so weird. So apologetic. Like he couldn’t be more ashamed of himself and more sorry.

“This isn’t real.” She whispered. “Turn it off.”

“Isn’t it?” Blake asked.

“TURN IT THE FUCK OFF!” She screamed. He laughed but he turned it off, well, he paused it. The image was still up on the screen. She turned to look at him, forcing herself to look away from the screen even though it wasn’t easy in the moment.

“How loyal are you to your captain now? Loyal enough to keep pretending you are entirely obedient to his every order?” Blake asked.

“Yes, because I know this isn’t real.” She growled.

“Tell me,” He asked, “Why exactly would we have any reason to risk attacking a union ship if we didn’t know there was someone on there that we definitely wanted and felt we could use? Do you know how many ships are after us right now? Have been after us? We got a good head start. If we make it to the borderline they can’t touch us but that’s a good week or two away. This is Ed’s fault. All of us. He knows it and now you know it. You didn’t even attempt to question why he’s so good at everything he does to you. Look, I’m not actually as ignorant and backward as my crew. I know you aren’t an idiotic animal. Hell, why do you think I know that the process to break a Xelayan is long and hard, it’s longer than a human. Kelly was pretty much done in three days. You? You’re still fighting. I know it’s fake, I just get off on your willing debasement with that man. Oh, it’s delicious.”

“FUCK YOU!” She screamed and lunged right at him. The only problem was that she was not on her feet she was on her hands and knees and this left her charging right into the desk which completely destroyed it, as well as injured her as part of it collapsed on her shoulder, taking her down momentarily. Blake sighed and a moment later she felt a vicious shock through her collar. It didn’t stop for a good ten seconds until she was nice and worn out. Blake stood up and looked down at her, nudging her with his foot.

“I suppose the big question is, do you tell him you know, or do you keep playing this game?” He asked, “Don’t suppose you two can plan an escape if you hate him now and he knows it.” Alara honestly didn’t know what to do in the moment. Had she not seen how Ed was behaving, had he not been so damn apologetic, had he not basically been an expert already at Xelayan bondage…she’d have never bought into it.

She knew, truly, this was not the situation he wanted. She also knew that if he had those videos, those simulations, it was fantasy. He never spoke of them to her on the ship, he’d never even come onto her, flirted with her, he’d barely complimented her unless it was a legitimate compliment on her work. He had fully intended to keep this a secret either forever or until the time he felt it might be appropriate to bring up. This wasn’t something he ever planned to do or see through, but it was his fetish. It was being forced on him, and when it came time to see it through, the psychological aspect of it kicked in. He got off on it and he loved it, truly loved it, that was until the moment of orgasm where he felt sick, _shamed_ and sick. This all made sense now. She wanted to hate him, she was very angry, _but how could she? Was this all his fault? Did he ask them to do this?_ **No**. Blake has said they hacked into his feed, they found out, they took the risk. They wanted him, for whatever reason, because they believed he’d be a great asset to their crew and worth the risk.

Ed had fought alongside them when the pirates had boarded. He’d done everything in his power not to let the ship be captured. As much as it was kind of horrifying to find this out about him, at the end of the day this would have never been a situation he’d asked for and the lengths he’d clearly gone through to keep it a secret from her. He hadn’t even told her when he had the chance. He was holding back, this whole time, and she had a sense whatever it was it was big. Blake knew, he knew and that was probably the threat. The one that scared him. Her finding out the truth. More than the snuff thing, more than the violence, more than the death. Her being told his secret and her being convinced this was all his fault. She still wasn’t convinced though. Because it _wasn’t_ his fault. It was not his fault that Blake was just pure **evil**.

“Take me back.” She whispered.

“What’s it going to be? Suppose you want to have a few words with him now?”

“No,” She whispered, “I want to keep playing his game.” Blake seemed enraged by this. The snarl that spread across his face, the way his eyes seemed to light up with pure anger she didn’t think she’d ever seen anyone look like that. It was as if he could explode in the next moment in complete shock. This expression only lasted about 5 seconds before he took a deep breath and calmed himself. He got down and easily picked her up.

“Let’s see how long you can before you lose it.” He said, starting to carry her out of there. As much as she hated it, he had a good point. _How long could she keep this up without exposing what she knew? How long could she play this game without losing her shit on Ed for knowing his secret or at very least discussing it with him?_ She knew something big, something huge, something only he knew. The crew wouldn’t have known this, Kelly would have at least brought it up, but she hadn’t even known they were fucking when they first been put together in the arena. The decision was hers now. Allow this to eat her alive, confront him, or find some way to cope with it until they had been saved. Blake said they would reach the border in a few weeks, union ships were hot on their tail. There was time, they had time, and hopefully, they would be rescued far before she had to make an actual decision beyond trying to stall for time.


	7. Mutiny

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vomiting in this chapter I know a lot of people don't like that one, otherwise, it's just pretty intensely angsty and dramatic. Oh and gay subtext but...that's a bit harder to explain.

She was pretty unceremoniously dumped on the floor in Ed’s room once they got there. She was so sore and tired she didn’t attempt to soften the blow of the fall by catching herself or even get up from where she was. Her physical and emotional world was shattered in that moment and she was grasping at anything she could in order to keep what little sanity she had left to justify everything she was going to have to go through in the next few hours with him. If she could just get through whatever horrible punishments this man would mandate then she might be able to get into a place where she could accept everything that happened and not question it until they were all safe again.

Ed was kind of staring off into space from his bed, that much she had noticed. It took him a moment to kick into gear and do anything. It was as if his brain had to process what was happening and what he was seeing. He was dying inside she could feel it and she could see it. No doubt he could see the same in her with how quickly he reacted once he also realized what had just happened. He scrambled off of the bed and rushed over to her.

“The hell happened?” He demanded, looking her over.

“She was a very naughty pet,” Blake said. “Not very entertaining like this either, so, you will have three hours to get her cleaned up and fed before she will be brought to the arena for her punishments. Doled out by you, as requested.”

“Shit.” He muttered and pulled her into his arms. He made a face which was definitely about her questionable smell but didn’t say anything. She looked at him, knowing she couldn’t speak anyway but in the moment not really wanting to. She was afraid if she started to speak it would all come pouring out of her and she wouldn’t be able to stop it. “Fine, whatever, I’ll do what you want. I told you I couldn’t promise she’d behave with anyone other than me.”

“Pity.” Blake said, “Well, there’s only one way for her to learn now, isn’t there? Hopefully, you’ll teach her a lesson she won’t forget later, hmmm?” He grinned down at her then turned and left. Ed picked her up fairly easily and quickly carried her into the bathroom. Once the door was shut behind him, he gently set her down so she was sitting on the edge of the tub before he started to run water for another bath. She didn’t think she could stand under her own power enough to take a shower anyway even if she would have preferred it at that point.

“The hell happened?” He asked her, “Jesus he broke you didn’t he, please tell me he didn’t break you. Alara…Alara say something.” He said, putting his hands on her arms and giving her a bit of a shake. She slowly allowed herself to look at him and took in a deep breath.

“It’s okay.” She said softly, “What you are doing, what you are feeling it’s okay. I get it. It’s not your fault we are here, it’s not my fault. We all fought, we did what we could, they were just too strong. There were too many of them. Please stop beating yourself up over all of this.”

“What are you even talking about?” He asked, moving some hair out of her face. She looked at him, reaching to put a hand on his face softly. It wasn’t easy, to keep eye contact after what she’d just seen, what she’d just heard. It was nearly painful, but she knew if she started to hate him for a situation that had been far beyond his control then Blake would win. They’d never get out of there because they’d never work together. If they made it to the border, outside of the jurisdiction of the union they were screwed.

“It’s not your fault.” She breathed, “I understand and it’s not your fault.”

“Stop this.” He said, his voice clearly attempting to be firm but not holding very strong. “I don’t know what happened in there but you are talking nonsense.” It seemed that he was going to go to great lengths to avoid admitting anything to her. To avoid talking about it. She didn’t know why he was holding on so strongly but he was and she didn’t think she had the nerve just yet to explain in further detail what she knew about all of this.

“I understand.” She whispered and dropped her hand, looking away from him again.

“Look, I need to ask…did he…what is that smell?” He breathed.

“He didn’t piss on me if that’s what you are trying to ask.” She said, “Nor did anyone else and I really don’t want to explain that part of it so ask something else. Anything else.” He nodded seeming to realize what she was getting at. He gently moved her into the tub and she relaxed, closing her eyes and focusing on her breathing so she’d be sure not to start crying right then and there.

“Then what did happen?” He asked. “Other than that I mean.”

“Kelly was there.” She said, “I had to…perform with her.”

“Shit.” He muttered, “This is getting out of hand.”

“You think?” She asked. He reached for the soap and very delicately started to clean her. She appreciated it since there was no way she could do it herself and he was being very gentle about it, caring. It was nice, so very nice after how she’d been treated up in Blake’s room. His hand moved to her arm where she’d been impaled by the heel.

“Wait did you have to fight her or was this sexual?” He asked.

“Sexual, but she kicked me in heels.” She replied, “I bit her.”

“Damn.” He said, “Don’t suppose he intends to do anything about your arm to help you either.”

“Didn’t mention it.” She whispered.

“Alara, are you sure you are okay? I mean I know you have to be tired and whatever but you seem incredibly different. Like he got to you somehow and whatever it is, whatever he did or said please just understand that the best thing for us is to work together. We only have each other right now and if you never want to see me again after we get out of here, I get it. I completely get it but we have to save what is left of the crew.” He insisted firmly.

“I want to see you naked.” She said.

“What? Why?” He laughed. “Not like you haven’t seen the important parts of me being naked already. What’s gotten into-“

“Do it.” She said firmly, her eyes open as she glared at him intently. She knew he had no idea why she was requesting this but she had her reasons. This entire time they had been there the most undressed she’d seen him was without a shirt and that was barely anything. She wanted to see him naked because she wanted to see him in the most vulnerable state he could possibly be in without physically hurting him because she felt then they may come close to getting on some equal playing level. With how much he was trying to resist this she could tell it meant something to him, was in some way humiliating and that already made her feel better, as vindictive as it was.

“Alright but I don’t see how this is going to help anything.” He said, picking up on the fact that she wasn’t joking around. He moved back from her and stood up, watching her as he started to strip. He got down to his boxers before stopping again. “Is this really necessary, Alara, I don’t see…”

“FINISH!” She roared at him.

“Okay okay…” he said quickly and pulled his boxers off. “There, happy? Not like you haven’t seen this before.” He motioned to his dick as he spoke, except this time he wasn’t aroused making it considerably less impressive, less intimidating. He was just a man under there. A normal, ordinary, and even insecure man. That’s what he was. A human being who was just as scared and confused as she was. He wasn’t a monster, he wasn’t evil, he made mistakes and he suffered for them. She sat up and reached for the soap, continuing to clean up herself.

“Thank you.” She said, “I needed to see you for who you are. Had to remember some things.”

“Alara, I can’t pretend to know what’s going on or what’s gotten into you and if you don’t want to talk about it I won’t make you, that’s up to you. If this helped, I’m glad, even though I don’t have the first idea why but…can you please just try to pull it together for-“

“THAT’S REALLY FUCKING EASY FOR YOU TO SAY!”

“IS IT? HUH?” He snapped back at her, “You think I like any of this? I mean really truly like it? Because I don’t. Yeah, it seems like total bullshit because of how fucking horny you make me, I get that, and physically it’s fine, amazing even, but do you have any goddamn idea how fucking sick with myself I am for getting that way in the first place. If I could turn it off, I would, but guess what? You are fucking lucky I can perform in the first place because if I couldn’t, you’d have Blake’s cock in your fucking throat.” She looked away from him and focused on the wound in her arm for a moment because she was going to have to clean it no matter how badly it sucked. A puncture wound that deep was dangerous if there was no certainty of medical care to go along with it.

Maybe she was being too hard on him. Though she wouldn’t say he had it harder than her, since she was getting it both on the physical and emotional end, she hadn’t stopped to consider how emotionally taxing and horrific this had to be for him. He was holding it together well, considering, especially when he had to believe it was all on him that this had happened. That he hadn’t been able to stop it. He wasn’t even trying to tell anyone because he was so desperate to fix it he was willing to go through one of the worst emotional trials of his life to save everyone he could from this hell.

“I’m not here to claim I have it harder than you, not by a long shot.” He continued, “But realize that I am so psychologically fucked, I can’t even keep food down right now. When was the last time you saw me eat? Yeah, so I might be fucking you because I kind of  _have_ to. I don’t even know how I’m doing it because I’m terrified, Alara. **TERRIFIED**! It’s probably better than enduring physical and mental torture, I completely agree, but just…look at me. Okay? Tell me you think I’m that much better off than you because really I’d just have you snap my neck right now if I knew it would get all of you out of here safely but it won’t. I’m trying here, I’m really trying here and I need you to try too because I don’t have anyone else and last time I checked, neither did you.”

“Harsh,” She muttered then hissed softly in pain as she started to clean out the wound, “But I deserved some of that, some.” She rinsed her arm to clear the blood and started again.

“I’m sorry I…I’m just losing my mind here a bit okay?”

“No I get it, and I do sympathize with you, a lot…but I just…there are problems. A lot of them. You know what they are.” She replied.

“Okay you keep doing this, saying you understand, saying it’s not my fault..but I goddamn know you know some shit, what did he tell you?” He demanded.

“Everything.” She whispered, not looking at him.

“FUCK!” He yelled and actually turned and punched the wall in there, which only ended up injuring him so he cried out in pain looking down at his hand. “Yeah…that’s broken.”

“You want me to feel bad for you? I saw your porn collection. The fuck were you thinking? I’m your chief of security you dick!”

“Huh?” He asked, sounding genuinely confused.

“Don’t play stupid with me! Who even made those simulations for you? You’re not smart enough to do it yourself.”

“Okay, for one…that’s just well it’s mean but it’s true. For two, I have no idea what you are talking about. Okay, I have Xelayan porn a lot of it, I admit I may even have a huge fetish for Xelayans to the point that it’s kind of a problem at this point but I don’t have simulations of…what are you even trying to blame me for again?” He asked.

“Wait you don’t know?” She asked, and she was sure she’d definitely given him enough information for him to figure it out if he knew what she meant. “The simulations from your feed, of me and you…”

“What?” He laughed, “That never happened. I really like Xelayans but I’m not such a pervy asshole I’d make simulations of my own crew. I like you, I respect you, a lot. You know that.”

“But Blake showed me…I mean I saw it and he told me…”

“Half the shit that falls out of that man’s mouth is a lie.” He told her and reached to grab his boxers then mewled a bit in pain when he realized how hard they were going to be to pick up with his dominant hand mangled like that. “What did he say to you, specifically?”

“He showed me your videos, at least a list of them. Then he showed me one of me and you and…lets just say it was pretty detestable. He then told me the reason he came after you was that they hacked into your computer and your video feed and they found it. They believed this would make you a good candidate.”

“Okay, and it took him a week to show you anything, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Do you not think there’s someone on this crew who in some capacity who could have manipulated videos I already had to show you something to piss you off? To trick you? To turn you against me? That’s what he’s going for here Alara. Besides most of the Xelayans, I had in my videos were blond also uh…bigger tits.”

“I want to be offended but…I actually believe you on that.” She said, “Fuck I’m sorry how could I have been so blind?”

“No, you…it’s understandable.” He said trying to pull his boxers on. She shifted and leaned out of the tub to help him. “Thanks.”

“I knew when I went in there something was off, I told him it was fake but he kind of presented an argument and you…you’ve been so apologetic especially to me and-“

“It’s because a lot of it is the truth. I do have a fetish for Xelayan women, I do have a lot of videos, and pictures. None of them, I swear to god none of them are of you, or made to look like you. Even the ones that aren’t blond don’t look like you. I wouldn’t do that to you. _Ever_. Alara I like you for who you are, yes you happen to be Xelayan but that was just a coincidence I promise. This is all just a big mind fuck to try to tear us apart. You have to believe me.” He begged.

“Oh, I definitely believe you, no problem there.” She said and finished cleaning her arm. “But…we can use this.”

“How?”

“Trust me,” She said, “But this time, the risk is going to be mine. You just have to go along with it. Okay?”

“I’m not just going to agree to anything you say here.” He pointed out, “Especially if it puts you in unnecessary danger. Let me take that risk.”

“No, you figure out how to keep food down.” She said. “Also replicate me something along the lines of a bandage and disinfectant, please. There has to be at least basic first aid programmed into that thing. If not, get me the strongest alcohol it’ll allow you to replicate. Then get back in here and help me. We’ll discuss it then. I want to see you eat something and keep it down as well.”

“Fine…FINE! I just hope whatever you tell me isn’t so ridiculous I have to order you not to do it.” He informed her. She nodded and he walked out of there to get her what she requested. She grabbed a towel and wrapped herself in it before sitting on the side of the tub and taking a deep breath. He wasn’t going to like what she was going to suggest but it was the last idea she had and something she believed was most likely their only option.

* * *

Ed did not like the plan, at all. The plan being that she was just going to keep being super complacent with him and do anything he said. She explained to him how Blake thought that she was upset, that she was sitting on a secret and that it was one that threatened to break her. He didn’t know now that she had discussed things with Ed and gotten passed it. If that was the case then all he could believe was that she was struggling to keep it a secret, which was what he wanted because he wanted to break her. This part of the plan wasn’t the part he hated. It was the second installment that he was against but willing to at least attempt. They both agreed that if it was getting too far there would be a safeword to get out of it so Alara would know to stop and Ed would know she was bailing.

The second part of the plan was her pretending to hate Ed. Make a very big public display of it and then turn her loyalty towards Blake. Though they both agreed that they didn’t know if this would work, it seemed that Blake was interested in her enough that it might. There was no way to know other than to try it out. If they were right, this would possibly get her ownership transferred to him, and it would possibly get Kelly released. If Alara could spend more time with Blake, especially in his personal quarters then she could get far more information, maybe even send out a distress call, breach the security systems, something.

“There’s only one problem.” She said as he finished bandaging her up. She had already bandaged and splinted his hand as best she could manage, neither of them were too keen on trying to ask for medical care at that point. “He told me that he knows Xelayans are smart and I’ve just been pretending to be obedient the entire time. He said he got off on my…willing debasement.”

“That sick fuck.” Ed muttered, “Do they really not have anything better than these medieval ass bandages.”

“It’s better than nothing.” Alara sighed, “There is only one more option. You be far better behaved and become his friend. I mean, far better behaved. You will retain ownership of me and also be his friend. Maybe then we can work together somehow.”

“We’d have to make him believe it, though, he may be evil but he’s far from stupid.” Ed said, “We also don’t know what he has planned in this arena, you may actually hate me after that point. I’m going to have to do what he says.”

“I know.” She said, “And I’ll do my best to attempt to accept that there was nothing you could do but if I’m going to be honest, which is important, I can’t make promises.”

“I don’t expect you to.” He said. “I guess we’ll have to see what he has in store for us because everything we are planning now could possibly go right out the window depending on that very situation.”

“Well, all we can do at this moment is pray that isn’t the case.” She said.

* * *

Two hours later, right on the dot, Blake was in the room waking them up. He handed Ed a leash that would attach to Alara’s collar and told him they had exactly three minutes to meet him in the hall. Ed looked at Alara apologetically and snapped the leash onto the collar. She was only thankful that he handed demanded the restraints again but considering what that collar could do to her it was probably completely unnecessary. He got dressed, making himself look as nice as he possibly could and then picked up the other end of the leash. She got up and then onto the floor, crawling down behind them as they headed into the hall.

“Is she actually going to behave this time?” Blake asked him.

“You know, I have to be honest since you had her she’s been far better behaved. I mean really. You have to teach me some of your tricks.” Ed replied in a surprisingly genuine sounding tone of voice even though it was a flat out lie. Alara kept her head down and said nothing, only listening to this because she knew her best bet was to appear upset with Ed and stay completely docile.

“Really?” Blake asked, “I see you are finally coming around, huh? Well, don’t worry. I think I can show you a thing or two in the arena tonight.”

“I look forward to it.” Ed said, “She really is a sweet piece of ass when you can get her to behave huh?”

“Damn right she is.” Blake said, “You just need to learn to share.”

“Share? Well, you didn’t tell me you wanted that.” Ed laughed, “Could have easily told her to hold still while you railed her.” Alara growled because this was getting irritating to listen to. He jerked her leash rudely. “Hey! Calm down.” She glared at him but nodded, the good thing was that this seemed to impress Blake well enough. He may have been a smart man, but going right to his ego seemed to be his weakness. They really should have thought of that sooner.They entered the lift that would take them down to the arena and Blake turned to Ed, moving in a bit close, like, romantically close. Alara’s eyes widened as she looked up at this.

“How much are you willing to share?” Blake asked, putting his hand on Ed’s chest. It took everything within her power not to burst out laughing at this. Sure she felt bad for Ed because this was a horrible situation but it was so incredibly horrible that it just crossed the line into being funny. She looked away in order to be able to calm herself, hoping Ed would continue with this. To be fair, she couldn’t tell if it was a bluff or he actually was interested in Ed. This guy was insanely good a manipulation and mind fuckery. She took a deep breath and relaxed herself but when she looked up again what she saw surprised her. Ed had put his hand over Blake’s gently and was gazing back into his eyes like he was seriously interested in this.

“Honestly, I thought you’d never ask. Maybe we are on the same page now.” He gave Blake a winning smile. Blake grinned back at him and leaned in like he was going to kiss Ed. If this was a fake out it was a good one, but she still couldn’t put it past Blake to just be fucking with Ed to see how far he’d go. Ed didn’t even hesitate to lean in as well but then the doors to the lift opened and Blake moved back. He chuckled, almost evilly and walked out of there, heading down the hall towards the arena. She heard Ed breathe a huge sigh of relief and then he gave her a look as if to tell her she better never breathe a word of that to anyone. She gave him a small nod. He was doing what he felt he had to do and it apparently might or might not mean doing something sexual with the captain. She realized that his desperation had reached as high a level as it could get so as much as it was amusing, it was sad. He started to walk and she followed after him.

They entered the arena together, all three of them, Alara crawling behind Ed, wondering what horrors waited for them there. Once inside, Blake had them stop in the center ring of the place and put his hand up then walked off to the side. A projection appeared above them. It was then that the normally dim lights lifted and in the rafters above this area called the arena, the Orville crew was sitting. Right in the front Alara could immediately see Kelly, Gordon, John, and Claire. There were only about 20 others there, meaning that a good portion of the originally selected had been disposed of within the past week for one reason or another.

“Prepare to be punished.” Blake said.

“NO!” Alara yelled and scrambled to try to shield herself behind Ed as best as possible. Not that it meant much, she’d been led in there on a leash completely naked already. It wasn’t as if they hadn’t seen all they needed to say. She wasn’t very worried about Kelly, but from what she could gather no one else on the crew knew anything about the situation between her and Ed. Hell, Kelly still knew the bare minimum of what was happening between her and Ed.

“Calm your pet or I’ll do it for you.” Blake warned him.

“She’s not his pet!” Gordon yelled, “The hell is going on here?”

“SILENCE!” Blake yelled at him. This caused a guard to step forward and aim a gun at his head. He put his hands up in a sign of surrender and shut his mouth quickly. Blake smiled and the projection above their head started to play. It started at the first moment Alara had woken up in the arena but was severely edited. The dialogue had been removed as if there was none at all. Well, at first. There was her pleading with him, but there was no actual dialogue from Ed and there was nothing of her pleading with him which would denote she was okay with any of this. It was edited entirely out of context to make him immediately look like a monster. To Ed’s credit, he said nothing and stood there proudly like this was in no way bothering him. He was shaking, she could feel it, but it wasn’t to a level that anyone would notice. She couldn’t tell if he was shaking from anger, fear, anxiety, or all of it but it was just a mild tremble.

The video moved on, except the way it was edited it made it look like everything had happened at once that day, the ear torture then the blowjob. Once again, no dialogue to indicate in any way that Ed was under duress. It was mostly just her pleading, and then only the shit that would make it look like she was actually scared. Everything else was cut out. Except for the point where she told him she deserved his cum on her face because she was a dirty Xelayn whore. She just pressed her face into his legs trying to block out all of this and the fact that the crew was watching with no actual context to what was going on. At all. The projection transitioned to her killing the crew members, to which she’d had no choice in the fight to the death. Though there was no talking, there were a bunch of gasps, stunned gasps. She found herself sobbing against him, this was far worse than anything he could be doing to her in the moment. This was sick.

Everything played through, right to the point where Ed ordered her to kill for him, the very last man, the prisoner who was scheduled to be executed. It ended shortly thereafter so no one had the benefit of seeing her reaction to what she had done.

“Are we supposed to buy any of that?” Gordon snapped, which only got him punched by the guard holding the gun. “Comment withdrawn…” He muttered in a daze, Kelly turned to glare at him but she stayed silent.

“Well, other than Mr. Malloy here…you’ve all seen what’s been going on with the captain and his new pet the past few days.” Blake said stepping towards them and clearing his throat. “Now, I suppose you can believe it’s fake but…let’s ask your Captain. Is all of that true? Did it all happen?”

“All of it happened,” Ed said his voice very firm and commanding, there was no shame in it either. Alara wasn’t sure what the hell to think nor did she know what he thought he was doing. Whatever he believed in that moment was a mystery other than he must have believed what he was doing was the right thing. She could only hope that it panned out to be right or they were so screwed. “It’s the truth. None of that is fake. I have this bitch on a fucking leash cowering under me, you think it’s fake?” Alara winced but still tried to hide herself.

“Good,” Blake said, still looking fairly impressed with this total turn around Ed was doing. “Care to tell them why we are all here then?”

“Certainly,” Ed said.

“He’s lost his goddamn mind.” Alara heard John say only to get elbowed by Kelly a second later.

“It’s my fault we are here.” He said, “They were passing by and they hacked into the ship's computers where they found my Xelayan porn. I suppose this led them to think I was an asset or could be. They also found a Xelayan on the ship, pretty hot little piece of ass one too right?” He laughed lightheartedly and looked at Blake as if this were all just a bunch of fun and games.

“He’s not wrong.” Blake grinned.

“Anyway, fuck the Orville right? Why would I want anything more than this? I’m practically a king here and she’s on my cock anytime I tell her. You saw her kill for me, what a rush.” Ed continued. Alara could hear horrified gasps and a bit of muttering before they were ordered to go silent again.

“Right, so here’s the situation,” Blake said and motioned to another area of the room where the lights came on. “You will have 10 seconds to decide where you stand. Do you stand by your Captain or do you take your freedom?”

“This has got to be a trick!” Kelly shouted.

“Shut up you dumb bitch!” Some random crew member yelled from the back of the audience. Kelly turned to glare at him but then one of the guards grabbed her and forced her to face forward again.

“No trick,” Blake said, “I might be a pirate but I am true to my word. You can choose to stand by your captain or you can leave.” Alara shook her head, she absolutely did not doubt that he was telling the truth. He was going to let anyone go who wanted because at this point enough of them would believe this was all Ed’s fault, he was getting what he deserved, and would not try to come back and help him. It was an easy way to show mercy, which would get him favor with the courts, and it would be an easy way of distracting the union with having to file a shit ton of reports to slow down their manhunt on this specific ship. It was as genius as it was evil. Obviously, he still intended to hold at least the captain but the more people he convinced to leave over their hatred of Ed the better off he was going to be getting away. He walked over to the gate that sectioned off the seating area from the arena and opened it, then stood back.

“I will ask each one of you who stands with the captain and who walks. You have ten seconds to decide.” Blake said and motioned to the crew member furthest from him in the back. Starting with the lower ranks first, probably to prevent some sort of show of solidarity. They’d be the weakest. As expected, they all marched to the freedom area, a few of them cussing at Ed angrily on the way. He just stood there looking as smug as ever like he did not give a shit what anyone thought. Then he got to the remaining senior members.

“Claire is it? Yes, what say you?” Blake asked. She looked over at Ed and shook her head.

“I’m sorry, I can’t stand by you on this.” She said.

“Wish you all the best,” Ed said happily as if this wasn’t even happening. She looked upset, very upset, either with herself or him or both but she walked to the group awaiting their freedom.

“John?” Blake asked.

“Fuck no I’m out, what happened to you man?” John asked, glaring at him, also shaking his head in disappointment as he headed over to the rest of the group.

“Gordon?” Blake asked. Gordon got up, he looked like he’d been beaten quite a few times over his stay there, especially with how he barely was able to limp to the gate. It was a chilling moment, watching all these people walk out on Ed and Ed who had clearly snapped in the moment just accepting it like it wasn’t a huge deal. She looked at Gordon. His eyes glanced at hers and then Ed’s. He took a deep, painful looking breath and let it out slowly.

“I stand with Ed.” He said. He was the first one to say this out of all of them which was met with a bunch of disapproving shouts, slurs, and hateful sentiments from the freedom group but he ignored it as he was shoved towards Ed.

“Suit yourself.” Blake said, “Kelly my dear…”

“Fuck you.” She snapped at Blake, “I stand with Ed.” She avoided his touch completely as she walked over to where he was with Alara. The crew didn’t like this either, seemed like Blake’s plan was working incredibly well as no one was even trying to jump ship back into captivity and were all ready and willing to leave their captain behind. It was basically like watching a mutiny, except far more humiliating. Blake stepped towards her next.

“Alara?” He asked. She looked up at him, still clutching Ed’s leg tightly.

“I stand with my captain.” She said in a firm voice.

“MURDERER!” Someone screamed from the opposite side of the room, she expected as much, and she knew her motives were going to be severely questioned by all of them, as well as her sanity, but she could not leave him behind even given the choice. She had to get him out of there, and the rest of them. It was important. Ed needed some sort of support even if it had just gone from about 20 people down to three.

“You are letting them go.” Kelly said, “I want to see it happen!”

“Really, I’m not lying.” Blake laughed, “Honestly, it’s far harder having all these people to take care of than well…4. Hostages are such a pain in the ass. View screen up!” He commanded. A view screen came up and then he motioned to the guards to escort the abandoning crew out of there. He motioned to the screen and the four of them watched in silence.

“Good riddance to dead weight, am I right?” Ed asked Blake.

“You’re telling me,” Blake replied, which earned him two very powerful glares from Kelly and Gordon. The crew was led to a shuttle bay and one by one they divided up and got onto three different shuttles, all of them bore the insignia of The Orville they were probably taken when the ship was taken. One by one the shuttles lifted off and exited the pirate ship, the doors shutting behind them. A guard waved in the direction of one of the cameras then saluted. “View screen down.” The screen vanished.

“Well, what now? Massive gangbang on Alara?” Ed asked enthusiastically.

“THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU AND THIS…This…SUBSTANDARD VERSION OF BILLY IDOL?” Gordon yelled loudly getting pretty in Ed’s face to do it.

“Huh…yeah kind of see the resemblance, maybe.” Ed shrugged as if he wasn’t at all irritated by this.

“Billy Idol?” She heard Kelly mutter.

“ENOUGH!” Blake snapped, “Guards, take these two to their new quarters, no one is to touch them and they are to be well fed.” He motioned to Gordon and Kelly. Each of them was grabbed, and a weapon was placed on their backs as they were marched out of there. Only Kelly turning to spare Ed one last glance before leaving. Blake grinned at the two of them.

“Well, that was tedious,” Ed said.

“Tell me about it. So, dinner, my quarters…two hours?” Blake asked.

“No problem.” Ed said, “Should we head back? I should get changed if I’m going to have dinner with the captain.”

“Of course. I want her there as well. We’ll have loads of fun with your new pet.”

“I wouldn’t expect any less,” Ed said then winked very flirtatiously at him. Blake laughed and motioned to one of the guards who came over to escort them out of there. Alara had no actual idea what was going on. Maybe Ed really had snapped, that would have been enough for anyone to snap. She couldn’t blame him if he had but if that were the case she was about to be owned by a fairly dangerous and psychotic man. They got back to their room and Ed unclipped her leash. He stood up again, and dry heaved before racing for the bathroom. Alara got up and rushed after him only to find him puking once she got in there. Quite a bit of it was blood.

“Holy fuck, Ed…” She breathed getting behind him and putting her hand on his back gently.

“I’m fine…I’m fine…” He rasped and gagged heavily but nothing came up on that one. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and moved back from the toilet, resting against the bathroom wall on the floor. He looked up at her, there was a bit of blood streaking down his chin at the side of his mouth.

“I don’t know how you did it but you’re a saint.” She whispered, “Our problem just got way less intense but you…you’re killing yourself.”

“We’ll get out of here.” He insisted, “We will get out of here it’s a much smaller number now. We are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel right now. Mark my words. We just have to keep playing…for a little longer. Just a little…long-longer.” His voice was starting to break and she believed that he was going to cry. She’d never seen a man so strong and yet so shattered at the same time. She moved towards him and pulled him into a hug. He pressed his face into her neck and held her tightly and though he wasn’t making a sound she could tell by his breathing and shaking he was definitely sobbing. All she could do was hold him and wait for this to pass, but she knew, at the bottom of her heart, she would see to it that by the end of this Blake would surely regret the day he crossed Ed Mercer and the senior crew of the USS Orville.

 


	8. Power Play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter is so short, I had a busy day, that and I want the dinner to be a chapter all on its own and I'm tired. There's a bit of femdom in this chapter as well. Enjoy.

“Go replicate something to eat.” Alara said, “And actually eat it.”

“Look at me, do I look like I can do that right now?” Ed asked and then moved off of the floor as she pulled away from him. He’d cried for a long time and she’d just let him, it was understandable considering what he’d been through but she supposed that it was absolutely not okay to draw attention to that fact now. It wouldn’t help matters but she didn’t think any less of him for it. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t been grabbing his legs and sobbing just thirty minutes before that point. He went to the sink and washed his face then brushed his teeth and took in a deep breath.

“You puked up blood.” She said, “I’d feel better about behaving at dinner if you tried to eat something and keep it down before we get in there. Please.” He looked at her.

“Fine, but we can’t stay in here any longer they’ll get suspicious.” He said. She nodded and walked out of there, getting down on all fours once she had left the bathroom. She crawled over to the bed and watched him go replicate a gingerly and some crackers. Four to be exact. She wanted to yell at him and he gave her a look as if to say ‘it’s food, you got your wish’. He sat down and started to eat, very slowly. She could tell it wasn’t even slightly enjoyable for him but it made her feel better just to see him try. Once he had finished he motioned for her to come over to him and get on the bed.

“Stay here.” He said, “I like you close, you’re mine.” He said firmly. She knew he had to justify having her up there for some reason and that seemed as good a reason as any. She nodded her head. He shifted to lay down and pulled her with him, then pulled the blankets up over them as well which she was very thankful for since she was freezing most of the time without clothing. Once again her back was to him so she couldn’t talk but she figured he didn’t want that.

“I want to try something so just relax.” He whispered in her ear. She nodded, not sure what he wanted to try but it wasn’t like she had a choice in the matter. At least whatever he was going to do was hidden by the blankets over them, this moment felt more intimate than the ones they’d had before. She felt his hand slip down her stomach and then between her legs. She gasped softly and closed her eyes. “Is this too weird? Kick me or something if you want me to stop.”

She didn’t want him to stop, she didn’t know why but it felt okay. Something about this seemed oddly caring and gentle. Less about only sex specifically and more about making her feel good. He tightened his hold on her a bit as his fingers worked the folds of her cunt. She felt her body relaxing into his touch and her eyes closed. He was very good with his hands. She wiggled back towards him, he was only teasing her now and she wasn’t sure if she was supposed to stay quiet and keep this a secret or if it was okay to moan, it was definitely hard not to.

“I’d have my mouth on there if I could justify a reason to do it.” He breathed in her ear. “Think you definitely deserve that at this point.” She couldn’t help but groan when she heard him say that. Visions of him down between her legs, looking up at her as he worked his mouth and tongue. She wasn’t sure why that was doing it for her in the moment, maybe because it was just so submissive. He was also willingly admitting to wanting that too. She didn’t mind being dominated as long as it wasn’t as forced as it had been on this ship but she liked having equal time as the dominant if she could get away with it.

“The thing he wouldn’t tell you about me…” He panted, getting close and rubbing against her a bit, “Is I have plenty of porn in my collection of Xelayan dominant women. Too much of the same thing can get pretty boring.”

“Oh god…” She groaned. Obviously, there would be no reason for Blake to tell her this, or anyone for that matter. He couldn’t in any way let any of them know he liked that stuff, it wouldn’t work in his favor. She completely believed him. There was no reason for him to say anything like that to her if it wasn’t the truth. Well, she supposed he might think that it would just turn her on even if it was a lie but he also already knew that certain dirty talk already turned her on. He wouldn’t need to go sub on her to accomplish that.

“I wish he would have told you that stuff too.” He muttered and a finger slipped into her. “Don’t…get mad but I have thought about you. N-Not to that level but I mean-“

“Be honest. Not even once?” She whispered.

“Fine once…just once and then I felt really bad…unfortunately, you weren’t there to punish me.” He purred.

“You’re serious?” She asked softly, she knew she could probably be heard but she was pretty much willing to take a punishment to find out how true this was. She reached her hand behind and felt blindly for his crotch until it rested on a clear bulge which was the outline of an erection. “Holy shit you are…”

“Shhh…” He whispered.

“Oh, it’s way too late for that.” She growled.

“Alara…” He said his voice normal at that point and not a whisper. She moved away from him and turned, to look at him.

“Shhh,” She whispered a hand coming up to his throat, holding but not really choking him. “I want to try something.”

“As much as I’m not against that, Blake will be.”

“It’ll be worth it.” She grinned.

“Fuck that’s so hot.”

“Shhhh…” She whispered and put her fingers to his lips. The hand already at his crotch started to squeeze firmly but not painfully, a nice sensual motion to tease him. He moaned loudly, closing his eyes. “Look at me.” His eyes opened instantly and he did what he was told.

“Please…” He whispered, but she couldn’t tell what he actually wanted, for more? For her to stop? She didn’t really doubt he’d tell her to stop if he wanted her to and in a way she’d know was serious and she should stop but he wasn’t doing that, he wasn’t even attempting to resist her.

“So, the fun part is guessing what you are into as a submissive.” She said. “Let’s see, I’ll start listing stuff and you nod your head like a good little pet if it’s something you like.”

“Yes, Mistress.” He said seriously without even being prompted. Damn. This really was hot and she was in no way expecting that. She was very limited on what she could do with him here other than maybe a hand job but she was going to keep going with this while she had the chance as it may never present itself again.

“Spanking?” She asked, continuing to stroke him through the soft fabric of his pants.

“Yes, Mistress.” He breathed.

“Whipping?”

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Caning?” She asked that one caused him to attempt to stifle a groan and he just nodded closing his eyes. “Look at me.” She commanded and his eyes opened once more.

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Humiliation?” She asked.

“What the fuck do you think this is right now?” He snapped at her and she gave his cock a squeeze making sure it was painful but nothing damaging either. More of a warning. He let out a bit of squeak. “S-Sorry…sorry yes…yes mistress.”

“You’re a stubborn one too, I like that.” She chuckled and went back to using her hand to massage him far more sensually.

“Mistress can you just-“

“No, it stays in your pants this time.”

“Yes but if you don’t-“

“That’s the point.” She told him. He looked at her as if he was shocked but then brought a hand up to his face attempting a very half-ass attempt to hide his expression as he moaned. She slapped his hand away. “We are continuing now, understood?”

“Yes, mistress.” He panted, his hips pressing more towards his hand, she started to be a bit more firm as he seemed to want that. “How do you know all of this.”

“Maybe I’ve thought about it too.” She said. The truth was she’d definitely thought about it, especially with humans. Mostly because men were usually intimidated by her being so much stronger than them. She’d never found a man who actually liked it but she’d dreamed of finding one, not really specifically him but someone, and of course, this led to plenty of domination fantasies. They didn’t completely drive her sex life but they were there. Especially on lonely nights or after breaking up with yet another guy and wishing someone would finally find it sexy instead of emasculating.

“You’re so perfect…” He whispered as he looked deep into her eyes. She smirked.

“Let’s see what else…” She breathed, “Seems someone likes a bit of cock torture. Balls too?”

“Y-Yes Mistress…light though…don’t…rip it off.”

“Of course not.” She chuckled, “As long as you keep pleasing me that is.”

“Fuck…” He groaned.

“You like that too? Choking?”

“Yes, mistress.”

“Restraints?”

“Yes, mistress. Please just…fuck…Please…” He reached down to attempt to grab her hand and move it away, she knocked his hand back with her free one. He whimpered pathetically and moved in closer to her, pressing his face tightly into her neck. She grinned.

“Pegging? How about that? Huh? You want me to fuck your ass, Ed?” She breathed. That was the one that seemed to do it. He bit into her shoulder tightly, nearly breaking the skin as his hips bucked towards her hand roughly. He muttered something but she couldn’t understand any of it, not that she cared to. It was only moments later that she felt the warm damp spread of his cum through the fabric and on her hand. She kept it there until he calmed completely and his teeth released the skin on her shoulder. He didn’t pick his head back up though.

“Sorry.” He muttered.

“Nothing to be sorry about.” She said, “Think I enjoyed that the most out of everything we’ve done so far.” He whined softly and shook his head. Her hand reached up, grabbing his hair and gently pulling his head back to look at him before kissing him hungrily. He kissed her back just as passionately before she made herself break it.

“Thank you.” He whispered, “Please don’t tell anyone.”

“I think at very least one person knows now.” She said, “But I won’t tell anyone specifically if that’s what you mean.”

“Right.” He sighed.

“Get cleaned up, I’m going to nap.”

“Don’t you want to-“

“No, for now, I’m fine. Very satisfied with what I just did.” She said and kissed his lips softly again. “Hurry back, the bed is cold without you.” He nodded and scrambled to get out of bed to quickly obey her orders. She laughed and curled up under the covers, closing her eyes. She slowly dozed off as she waited for him to get back.

* * *

After about an hour in her shuttle, Claire got up and moved for the front. She shoved the pilot out of the way and sat down. There wasn’t much to do now but autopilot and make minor navigation changes, and it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle if she had to, but she needed to do something. She’d been thinking about it for enough time that she had to do it. She opened channels to the two other ships and took a deep breath.

“Listen up.” She said in a firm voice, then turned to look at the people on her own shuttle. “Captain Mercer isn’t to blame for what happened and Lieutenant Kitan is not a murderer.”

“The hell she isn’t!” Some woman on her own shuttle said loudly.

“You shut your mouth or I’ll shut it for you,” Claire warned. “Now, I don’t know what all of you have been through but I have some idea being that I was stationed in their sickbay. I know more than most of you think I do. I am telling you right now that Ed Mercer of all people did not want anything like that to happen. You all saw him fighting along with us when we were boarded, you all saw him try to fight. Owning Xelayan porn isn’t a crime, and don’t act like some of you don’t have far worse.”

“She’s right!” She heard someone say over the comm system, it must have been from another ship.

“Look, the type of emotional and physical stress your captain has endured trying to save your asses…you really can’t respect any of that?” Claire continued.

“If _you_ respect it so much why did _you_ leave?” A female voice said from over the comm signal.

“If we didn’t leave how were we supposed to get help for him?” She replied, “Except, this is part of the problem we all need to be on the same page.”

“You mean you want us to lie?” The same woman on her own shuttle who had commented before said.

“I’m not telling anyone to lie about anything.” She said, “What I’m saying is that if we all go in there, all telling different stories, a lot of which have false information because a lot of us were lied to…then we will tie up resources too long for them to catch up to the pirate ship. Regardless if you stand with Ed Mercer or not, they will kill him and they will kill Gordon, Kelly, and Alara. Maybe you are upset, I get that, but do they deserve to die a horrible death? Do you think Ed, in his right mind, would ever behave that way? The way you saw? Do you not think maybe there was a reason? That maybe he was trying to win our freedom? Did anyone of you _consider_ that?” She glared right at the woman who seemed to be giving her the most shit in the moment. All she did was look away and say nothing.

“Exactly, so…all I ask is once we get any sort of help, everyone insists that they file their reports after Ed Mercer and the rest of the crew is found. That everyone waits for the facts. We are a crew of civilized, factual, science-based people. We cannot let our emotions and what we’ve all been through override their wellbeing. They cannot waste resources on us. We are alive, we will stay alive. We can worry about who is mad at who once they are safe as well.”

“She’s right you know.” She heard John say over the comm. He wasn’t in the same shuttle as her but she was glad to have someone there trying to back her up. “What I can tell everyone is that the man I saw in that arena was not the man I know. Something got in his head. I wanted to stand with him but I am the damn navigator, who the fuck do you think can get us back to that ship faster than anyone? I had to leave, but I never believed that bullshit they were feeding us. You all do know things can be edited and completely faked right? You believe Captain Mercer and Alara did that shit for no reason? Come on people, you’re all smarter than that.”

“Right! All of you are smarter than that! You are officers, start acting like it!” Claire reinforced. She knew that ultimately she could not make them do what she was asking, she could only follow her own advice and hope for the best. She didn’t want to have to lose some of her closest friends because people were relying on their emotions to dictate their behavior.

* * *

An hour had passed with them napping before the door to their room opened. Alara woke first and pressed into Ed tightly trying to hide herself. It wasn’t Blake, though, it was just one of the slaves. He looked at her and set down a pile of folded clothing with a note on top. He then nodded at her and left. She was starting to wonder what was done to these other Xelayans that made them so incredibly complacent to orders and deny who they really were. She feared if they didn’t defeat Blake, or get rescued soon, she’d end up like them.

“Get up.” She whispered to Ed. He groaned and opened his eyes. She shoved him a few times before he actually sat up, then yawned loudly and turned his head to look at her.

“Crap, we’re still here.” He said. She pointed at the clothes. She was surprised that Blake hadn’t said anything about what they’d done in the bed just an hour ago. There was probably a reason but the hell if she knew exactly what that was. He glanced at the pile of folded clothes then got up and walked to them. He grabbed the note on top and looked it over. “You and your pet should be dressed nicely for dinner, Blake.”

He tossed the note to the side and picked up the stack of clothing that was on the top, moving it to the bed. It was obviously for him because it was thicker, nicer fabric, and definitely a suit. A really formal one. Interesting. He looked at Alara and then picked up the stuff to head into the bathroom. He didn’t tell her what to do but she decided she was going to go look at whatever outfit she was left. She walked over to the chair, wondering if the rules had changed for them for whatever reason, and picked up her own bundle of fabric. The slave came in again and set down two boxes, ordinary black boxes and left. One had her name on it the other had Ed’s name on it. She went back to looking at her clothing. It was some sort of leather halter top that was probably a bit too small, and a miniskirt, also leather. She couldn’t tell if it was replicated or real but considering how Blake dressed, he was obviously into leather.

“Great.” She muttered, but it was better than being naked. She pulled the top on with a bit of difficulty and then the skirt. No undergarments but she was covered, mostly. The top pushed her tits up far more than she wanted, and was comfortable. She walked over to the boxes and opened the one that was for her. Inside she found two knee high, black leather, stiletto boots that zipped up on the side. She pulled them on and zipped them up then went to sit on the bed again.

Ed walked back out of the bathroom about five minutes later in an amazing black suit that was perfectly tailored to his form. It was somewhat old-fashioned and included a waistcoat but he looked incredibly handsome in it. Far more so than when he was in his normal uniform. When he saw her he froze for a moment and just stared.

“Oh come on you’ve seen me naked.” She said.

“Naked and dressed like that are two hugely different things. I prefer that.” He said.

“Why?”

“Not sure, maybe because of the vibe it gives you.” He shrugged and walked over to the boxes once he spotted them. He opened his and pulled out two very nice and polished black dress shoes and started to pull them on.

“You mean, hooker?” She asked.

“I was more thinking, dominatrix but whatever.” He said. “How do I look?”

“Why do you care?”

“Want to impress him.” He said happily. She was very close to contradicting him on that but then remembered that he was pretending to be Blake’s new best friend and they were being watched so obviously he had to sound somewhat excited for this and to see Blake.

“Both you and him can kiss my ass.” She said.

“We probably will.” He told her. She rolled her eyes then laid back on the bed. It was hard to ignore the stuff she’d done to him earlier and go back to this stuff but she also had to. Their very survival depended on it. She did question how much Blake actually picked up, though. A lot of it was whispers when they did it, especially at first. For all he knew, she’d been ordered to do it. At least Ed could explain it like that if he wanted. If that was the case then keeping up pretenses that they were still at odds and Ed still was friendly with Blake was their best bet. “Now, you behave, that just earned you a punishment. I’ll be sure to administer it after dinner, no time for anything like that now.” No sooner than he said that, did the doors open and Blake was standing there. He was also in a suit, mostly. A lot of it was leather and it was still very pirate and punk with the rings, chains, and…he seemed to have eyeliner on. Not that it looked bad, it was actually very flattering for him. He was more formal than she usually had seen him but not to the level of Ed. Unless that’s what he considered to be formal for himself. This was his ship they had to play by his rules, after all.

“Looking sharp,” Blake said to him as he headed into the room, running his hand over Ed’s tie. “Almost, delicious.” He chuckled softly.

“What’s on the menu for tonight? I’m staved.” Ed said letting Blake handle him all the wanted.

“I think you’ll be quite pleased. I even invited Mr. Malloy and Ms. Grayson to join us. Now, get her on her leash and we will be on our way.” Blake said. Ed nodded, he grabbed her leash and clipped it to her collar giving it a tug. “She can walk, for now. Need to discuss a few things with you about ownership and such but that can be taken care of at dinner.”

Alara’s heart sunk, things were just barely tolerable when it was just her, Ed, and Blake. If all of this was going to be talked about in front of Gordon and Kelly she wasn’t sure how well she could hold it together. Though Kelly knew a lot already (and part of her just assumed that Kelly knew more than she was letting on at any given moment which led her to stay with Ed instead of leaving) she was unsure of what Gordon knew, or thought. From his very vocal protests at the arena, it seemed like he didn’t believe any of it. Or at least, was desperately trying not to believe it. Fuck. She started to walk after Ed, mostly because it was do that or get choked and dragged. She could only hope that this wouldn’t be as bad as she was anticipating but she also knew that it would probably be far worse.


	9. Standing Ground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a rather difficult chapter to write because of what it leads up to and the situation that Ed finds himself in which is pretty extreme Dub-Con bordering on Rape. I wasn't sure how to write it or even if I should but then I thought "fuck it" because whatever. I don't want to spoil anything but I surmise not many people will like what goes on here so I'm warning you now before you get a chance to read it and get upset. That is all.

They entered the captain’s quarters together and were taken to a dining room type area. Immediately upon entering the first thing, Alara noticed, were the heads on the wall. Xelayan heads. She stopped right in the doorway, staring at them. Ed yanked her leash hard enough that she stumbled and fell to the ground roughly. She was so horrifically caught off guard by what she was seeing she was unable to prepare herself for anything like that and the boots she was in certainly didn't help her to catch her balance. 

“Jesus, Ed…calm down,” Kelly told him.

“Yeah, you think maybe there’s a reason she doesn’t want to eat in here?” Gordon asked him.

“SHUT UP!” Blake ordered them.

“She’ll get over it, this collection isn’t even that good, he has a much better private one,” Ed replied casually. Both Gordon and Kelly glared at him. As upsetting as this was, Alara knew she couldn’t just start explaining why he was being this way so she held her tongue but it was one of the hardest things she ever had to do. She could now completely understand why Ed had been vomiting up blood. It was as if she could feel her own insides shredding themselves while she swallowed down all the words and screaming she wanted to do but knew better than to go through with. Blake had the smuggest look on his face ever as he took a seat at the table and motioned for Ed to sit on the right side of him. Alara didn’t see a chair for her but she didn’t much expect one so she knelt on the floor next to Ed and tried not to scream or look at the walls.

Blake reached to the center of the table and grabbed a wine bottle then served himself, next was Ed, then Gordon, and then Kelly. Alara steadied her breathing she knew that there was nothing she could do about the heads on the wall. Those people were already dead and to get worked up over it, as sad and horrifying as it was, wouldn’t help her or Ed or anyone else in the room. He was trying to break her and she wouldn’t let him break her because he was a monster. She supposed if it was just her here, alone, she’d have given up long before now but she had the others to think of and they were all going to get out of there alive. No matter what. If that was the case they all had to work together she couldn’t lag behind. What Ed was doing right now was far harder than her pushing past this, _right?_ Well, she had to believe it. _Had to_.

“So,” Blake said, “Very nice to see who is actually loyal to their captain no matter what they do.”

“Ed didn’t do half of that shit it was edited out of context and you know it.” Kelly snapped.

“Oooooooh.” Gordon said, “Well, at least I feel far less stupid and terrified now.”

“What do you mean?” Ed laughed, “Sorry Blake they can be really slow learners, especially Gordon.” Gordon gasped and looked at Ed with surprised. Blake chuckled evilly and then reached to pat Alara on the head like she was some sort of dog. She growled at him angrily. A moment later one of the Xelayan slaves brought food in and set dishes in front of each of them, except for her. She once again got a dish of what smelled like dog food, just slightly better than the stuff she’d been getting before.

“I can see they aren’t nearly to your level,” Blake said and took a sip of his wine before picking up his fork. Peeking onto the table Alara could see they all got what looked like steaks. God, she’d kill for something good like that right about now, steak, vegetables, wine. She felt like she was ready to punch Blake in the nuts, they were basically at eye level with her as it was. Kelly looked at Gordon and then Ed as if they thought this nice food was some sort of trick but then he started to eat like everything was normal.

“So, now that it’s just the four of us…well three I mean Alara barely counts right? What’s the plan?” Ed asked, “Also this steak, wow, perfectly cooked. Don’t tell me you trained those idiot Xelayans to do this.”

“No,” Blake laughed, “Got a great chef a while back, she didn’t want to comply at first but we worked things out. She’s human.”

“That explains it.” Ed said, “Well done though, very good.”

“Excuse me, Ed,” Kelly said, “But…what the **fuck**?”

“Eat your food, Kelly.” He said firmly and glared at her, she glared back at him but didn’t touch her food.

“I’m with Kelly on this,” Gordon replied.

“You know it’s not every day I give prisoners a good meal.” Blake said in a far more menacing tone of voice, “If you don’t want to eat it, I’ll give it to the pet.”

“Fine,” Kelly said and shoved her plate forward. “I’m not hungry.”

“Same,” Gordon muttered. Surprisingly, Blake did what he said he would and grabbed one of the plates. Except he didn’t exactly give her the plate he just dumped the food on the floor by her. She wished she was too proud and not so starved that she cared and could resist but that wasn’t the case. She quickly grabbed one of the steaks before Blake could change his mind and started to wolf it down.

“Even an animal has better manners than you.” Blake said, “Impressive but sad.”

“She’s not an animal.” Kelly snapped.

“She also smells better than you,” Gordon said. Blake glared at him and then went back to eating his food.

“Would you guys grow up?” Ed asked as if this was all just an annoyance to him. Alara glanced up at him but continued to eat. It was so good to have actual tasty food in her system. There was meat in the dog food but who the hell even knew what kind of meat? This was definitely some sort of animal she recognized, very close to beef. Probably replicated, but he had said something about having a chef. Either way, she didn’t care.

“Well,” Blake said, “I can see that we are at least on the same page.” He leaned in and put his hand on Ed’s thigh looking into his eyes lovingly. Ed just swallowed his food and smiled back, gazing at Blake with equal passion. Alara looked up she could really only see Gordon’s expression from where she was, Kelly must have been sitting more back in her chair at that point but Gordon looked like he’d just seen a cat get smashed with a hammer. Shock and disgust all at once with maybe just a tad bit of amusement mixed in there.

“Seriously, that is what this is about? You have a crush on Ed?” Gordon asked, as usual, the verbal filter most people possessed completely did not exist in his brain.

“I do not have a crush on Ed.” Blake said, “I do like him quite a bit though.”

“Right back at cha.” Ed grinned and then went back to eating his food.

“No one cares if you’re gay you can just admit it, dude.” Gordon continued.

“In any case,” Blake said, changing the subject, “There are new rules to discuss.”

“Like how gay you are for Ed?” Gordon asked.

“Gordon, Blake’s not gay. I don’t know what the hell he is but he’s definitely not gay.” Kelly snapped, though this left everyone to turn and look at her. Even Alara lifted up a bit to try to better get an idea of what Kelly was ranting about. Blake glared at her as if to tell her to shut up about something. She cleared her throat, “Look, all I can say is that…from my experience he’s definitely not gay.”

“Ewwww…” Gordon said softly, “Well bisexual is a thing…”

“ **ENOUGH**!” Blake snapped. “I want to invite all of you to formally be members of my crew, obviously there will be some restrictions at first until you can be trusted. I’m not stupid. It’s either that or go back to what you were doing before.”

“This has to be a trick.” Gordon said, “Like even more than that shitty video you played for us.”

“No trick.” Blake said, “You are an amazing pilot from what I understand and I could use one of those. She is…what does she do other than suck cock really well?” Blake turned to look at Ed who shrugged.

“No idea, oh she can be really bitchy about the most trivial of subjects she’s like an expert on that,” Ed suggested.

“ED!” Kelly snapped but this only made Blake laugh. Alara leaned in and tugged on his pant leg gently trying to tell him to take it down a notch. She just felt his leg jerk as he tried to shake her off of him. She snorted and did it again.

“What is it, pet?” He asked through a clenched jaw.

“I need to pee.” She said.

“Blake?” Ed asked, “I’m sorry but I don’t think you want a repeat of what happened the last time.”

“What happened the last time?” Gordon asked.

“Gordon!” Kelly hissed.

“Sorry.” He muttered then grabbed his wine and chugged it. Blake looked at her then at Ed.

“I’ll take her, wouldn’t want your food to get cold,” Blake said and stood up, grabbing her leash. For a moment, just a tiny split second she saw Ed’s eye panic but it was hardly enough for Blake to register. She had wanted to talk to him to tell him to knock it off but at very least he could be left alone with Gordon and Kelly, maybe in some way he could communicate something to them. It was a bad situation all around but perhaps finally something could come of it, even if she was most definitely going to have to actually pee in front of this guy. He tugged her leash gently and led her out of the room to the bathroom.

“You don’t really have to watch this, _do you?_ ” She asked.

“Let me guess, you wanted to bring him in here to talk to him and tell him to tone it down a bit?” Blake asked. They were behind closed doors now so it wasn’t as if the others were going to hear them. She stared at him in horror, “Do you really think I don’t know he’s faking all of that?”

“But you-“

“Yeah, get it through your head, you’re the smart one here. Obviously. I mean Ed he’s very smart, but the other two? Wow, they are just…I mean everyone is good at something I suppose but thinking doesn’t seem to be their strong suit.” Blake replied.

“Then what’s with the…flirting?” She demanded. “Do you like him…in that way?”

“I like a lot of things.” He said, “Now, if you lied about having to take a piss you’re going to have to wait until tomorrow morning to do anything and we all know you won’t last that long so either go now or hold it.” He glared at her. She shook her head and looked away from him. As much as she wanted to defy him in the moment the best thing she could do was stall for time and if he really wanted to watch this then it would take longer for her to actually pee than it would for her to refuse the offer and have him take her back out there which would hopefully give Ed some time to at least convince those two he wasn’t entirely brainwashed. She did as she was told, not looking at him the entire time. She moved as slow as possible to finish, wash her hands, and dry them before he brought her back out.

Her heart sank when she saw that as they had left, two guards had entered there. _It didn’t matter_ , Ed wouldn’t have been able to do or say anything if he was being watched like that. She should have known that there was some type of trick to this and now she had to face the fact that Gordon and Kelly damn well knew what she just let happen, without them having any context as to why. He walked her back over to the table and handed Ed the leash then leaned in and kissed him, passionately. Ed, of course, did the only thing he could do and kissed him back with equal passion. Gordon grabbed the bottle of wine from the table and started to drink straight from there. Blake released him and sat down then went back to eating as none of that had just happened. Gordon set the bottle of wine down and took a deep breath.

“Yeah, sure I’ll be your pilot.” He slurred.

“ _Gordon_ …” Kelly warned.

“Oh who gives a fuck, he’s suddenly gay for Blake, you’ve clearly been fucking a gay man…”

“He’s not gay!” Kelly insisted.

“Yeah, whatever.” Gordon snapped, “Can I get some bread or something I should not have drank that much on an empty stomach.” Ed picked up a dinner roll and tossed it to him which he caught and took a bite out of.

“Glad to have you on board.” Blake laughed and motioned to one of the guards who brought another bottle of wine to the table. “You will be monitored until-“

“Yeah I know but if Ed can be gay for the captain I can certainly pilot this wreck of a ship to whatever hell we are destined for,” Gordon said.

“Here here!” Ed said and raised his glass. Gordon grabbed the second bottle of wine and chimed it against Ed’s glass before starting to drink out of it too.

“ENOUGH!” Kelly yelled, “I don’t know what’s going on here but you need to give it a rest. All of you!”

“So I take it you won’t be joining the crew and want to remain a slave?” Blake asked her.

“Yeah, I’d rather keep my morals and be your slave than go insane and work for pirates!” She spat back at him. He shrugged like he couldn’t really care less. “What about her?” She motioned to Alara.

“I don’t know where you’ve been the past week Kelly…but Xelayans are dirty animals and they don’t have rights like we do.” Ed said very condescendingly. Kelly screamed with rage and stood up, grabbing her wine glass and throwing it at Ed’s face. He dodged it but the wine splashed out hitting Alara and Blake.

“Guards!” Blake ordered. They came over to Kelly and grabbed her, putting her in restraints. “Take her back to my quarters put her in the cage.”

“Yes, sir.” They both said in unison, dragging her out of there kicking and screaming the entire time. Once she was gone, Gordon eyed both of them and went back to drinking the wine.

“You won’t let him die of alcohol poisoning will you?” Ed asked.

“Well, I can’t let my pilot die.” Blake laughed.

“Awesomesauce,” Gordon muttered and then took another bite of the dinner roll that had been thrown at him. A moment later he passed out on the table, his head hitting with a loud ‘ **bang** ’.

“He’s not usually this bad with his liquor, is he?” Blake asked.

“Naw. Empty stomach. Plus, this stuff is strong as hell.” Ed said and took another sip.

“Very true.” He said, “Well, it’s just you and me, and the pet now.” He said.

“That it is.” Ed replied and took his last bite of food, “So, what exactly does that mean?” Blake moved his hand over to Ed’s and ran his fingers along the top softly.

“Think you know what I want…” He smiled. Alara watched them closely. She didn’t know how far Ed would take this or would be able to take it despite probably wanting to also badly trick Blake. She also knew there wasn’t much she could say. She could blurt out that Blake knew he was faking, but _what would that accomplish?_ It would just make Ed mad, there would be a fight, a huge setback. Except she also didn’t want to watch Ed do this because of…whatever reason. She still was trying to wrap her head around why he was doing this. It was possible he very much liked Ed. Gordon was right, bisexuality was a thing. He could be into women and men and that wasn’t weird. Maybe he liked Ed despite knowing he was faking. Maybe he liked Ed better because he was faking and what he’d wanted, almost this entire time was to be with Ed. Until she figured it out she didn’t want to give anything away because she knew the moment she told Ed anything, for one, she’d be punished then he probably would and there was no telling what he might do to Gordon and to Kelly if he lost Ed’s loyalty. It may only be an illusion at this point, but Ed was still following orders and acting complacent even if it was fake and maybe that’s all Blake really needed.

“Look you’re a nice guy and all but I’ve never really…you know…with a guy.” Ed said.

“Darulio…” Gordon muttered drunkenly but then started to snore loudly.

“Okay, that well I was very drugged,” Ed said.

“He was,” Alara confirmed.

“No one asked _you_.” Blake sneered at her. “Ed, it’s not much different than being with a woman. Besides, you’re a man you know what men like just apply it to someone else. It’s okay, I can tell you like me and there’s no one here that’s going to know.”

“Alara-“

“And you care what _she_ thinks?” He asked. Ed glanced at her for a moment. She could see that he was internally struggling with this. He took a deep breath and looked back at Blake.

“No, I don’t.” He said but didn’t sound nearly as confident about that as anything else he’d said that night.

“Good, let’s move this to my office since Kelly is in the bedroom.” He said. He stood up and headed out of there. Ed looked at Alara, completely panicked and his face going pale. She shook her head because she didn’t know what to tell him or what to say. Her fear of what would happen to all of them if she told him about Blake overrode the moment. If he eventually tried to back his way out of this, she wouldn’t blame him, but she didn’t feel she could risk Gordon, Kelly, herself, and even him by blurting out what she knew. All she could do was follow Ed into Blake’s office.

He had at some point, gotten a new desk, not that she was surprised. He was a pirate after all. He probably had a ton of them in storage. Stolen from other ships he’d taken over. He walked to the desk and leaned against it, folding his arms over his chest and looking Ed over. Alara noticed that Ed’s grip got a lot tighter on her leash but she didn’t say anything. Blake motioned for Ed to come towards him more, which he did, and she crawled behind. Blake pulled him into another kiss and Alara tensed up. She was waiting for some moment that Ed snapped at him and informed him that this was all just a joke. That moment wasn’t coming, though.

“Get on your knees for me,” Blake told him.

“W-What?” Ed whispered. “You know, if this is my first time I’d prefer to just go a bit slower than-“

“Knees,” Blake said in a commanding tone. Ed stiffened up and she heard him take a deep breath before he got onto his knees in front of Blake, kind of moving her off to the side a bit. Blake reached down and started to stroke his hair. He smiled then moved his hand back and unzipped his pants getting his cock out. Alara’s mouth went dry and her heart started to pound.

She couldn’t figure this out but there had to be an answer, a reason. _If Blake knew it was fake then what was he getting out of this? Why would he do this?_ It couldn’t possibly be that he loved Ed so damn much that it didn’t matter to him. That was really the least likely answer, so then _what was it?_ Her brain didn’t want to do any detective work because she was so emotionally and physically exhausted by this day in and day out torment. Ed had to be as well. As much as she was sure he hadn’t snapped yet or totally given up, she knew he had to be reaching his breaking point as well and to his credit, she was kind of amazed he hadn’t already thrown in the towel.

 _Please, Ed, don’t let this happen._ She thought softly as Blake started to stroke his already very hard cock right in front of Ed.

“Open your mouth.”

“Blake, seriously I know you are into me and that’s cool but if we just went a bit slower then-“

“ **OPEN**!” He commanded. Ed winced but did it anyway. Alara actually felt sick. She knew to Ed this was a game of chicken and possibly a metaphorical pissing contest to see how far he could take it before backing out. Before giving in. She really hadn’t thought it would lead up to this moment where…Blake actually had his cock in Ed’s mouth now. She tried not to gasp and just barely managed but she had to look away at that point. If Ed actually liked men well that wasn’t the issue she didn’t care about that. She knew Ed hated this man with a passion and she knew that he thought he was doing the right thing in the moment, it had nothing to do with actually liking him. Blake was taking it to the limit and clearly getting off on it as well.

> _I know it’s fake, I just get off on your willing debasement with that man. Oh, it’s delicious._

**That, that was it!** What he’d said to her in his office the other day. About her faking. That he _knew_ it was fake, he didn’t care. He got off on the humiliation. He got off on knowing that she hadn’t wanted to be with Ed in such a way she just felt she had no choice. Just as in that moment, Ed in no way wanted to be doing this but he felt he had no choice. Which was why he was faking. Blake wasn’t gay, no…that really had nothing to do with it. Breaking Xelayans there were males here, females here, he was fucking Kelly, he was forcing her to do shit she didn’t want to do and she was doing it because she believed that it was her only option. He liked that, the power, the humiliation. What the hell could be more arousing to a man with a power trip fetish than having his cock in the mouth of a **fucking Union Starship Captain**.

“Ed…” Alara said except she wasn’t able to say anything else, she got a shock that sent her to the floor, one nearly strong enough to knock her out. She groaned softly and curled up, her head pounding and her ears ringing as she desperately tried not to vomit up the steak she’d just eaten.

“Shhh don’t look at her look at me…” Blake purred his hand coming up to Ed’s face to turn his head back. She could see what was happening though her vision was blurred. She whined loudly, still attempting to get his attention except it didn’t matter because a moment later, after a second shock, she was completely blacked out.


	10. See Who I Am

[ **Mood Music:** This Chapter Inspired By This Song]

* * *

When Alara woke up she was in a bedroom, Kelly was on the bed watching what she assumed was some old Earth program on the view screen. She wondered how Blake would even have this stuff but maybe he’d just transferred it from The Orville to his own library. It would have been easy enough to do. She didn’t see why he, of all people, would find it anywhere near interesting but maybe he did. She couldn’t tell. He was far from a stupid man and had clearly done this enough times to know what he wanted and didn’t want. Not to mention what he liked and didn’t like.

If they reached the area of space that was considered outside of the jurisdiction of the planetary union then he would have successfully captured a union captain and she was suspecting that this was the first time he’d done anything like that because of how into the idea of it he seemed to be. Though pirates clearly existed, they had stopped being a threat to the union a very long time ago. If Blake successfully pulled this off, keeping officers and a captain as pets, he’d be the most feared pirate in all of space because he’d be regarded as the most powerful. Every day they were getting closer to the edge and every day Blake was tasting his victory, laughing in the face of the union, and getting off on the destruction he was causing. He was, by all accounts, living his dream.

“Kelly.” She muttered. She was on the floor and as she sat up and tried to move to the bed she realized that she was chained to the wall by her leash. Something she could easily break as it wasn’t much more than a small chain but she didn’t want to risk getting herself in trouble, or Kelly, so for the moment she stayed put.

“You’re awake,” Kelly said and turned off what she was watching, sitting up quickly.

“I wish I was wasn’t.” She replied, “I have been hoping for a long time that this is just a very bad dream and I’ll wake up from it soon enough.”

“I know the feeling.” She replied, “Where is Ed?”

“I don’t know.” She sighed, “I passed out when I was in Blake’s office with the two of them.”

“What even happened in there?” Kelly asked, “I mean he wouldn’t tell me anything but when he brought you in here he seemed so smug, more smug than I’d ever seen him and I know something had to have gone on.” Alara knew what had happened, or at least what she’d seen. There was a good chance more than what she’d witnessed had taken place after she had passed out but she knew it wasn’t good. She also wasn’t sure how good it was to tell Kelly anything.

“You’re right, Blake isn’t gay but…” She took in a deep breath, “He has a massive power trip and humiliation fetish.”

“Thank God someone else finally picked up on that because I was about to start screaming,” Kelly replied.

“You knew?”

“Yeah, what do you think I was going to say at dinner? I mean I don’t know why he didn’t want me to say it. I suppose he thinks it’s better if people just think he’s gay.” She shrugged.

“No, I don’t think that’s it.” Alara said, “I think it’s because if Ed knew this he’d stop pretending.”

“What?”

“He’s been faking his…weird behavior. All of it.” Alara said, “Blake knows that and he doesn’t care. He gets off on it. He told me so in his office after I…well we were…you know. Anyway, I asked him if he knew that I was faking why he let it continue and he said he got off on my willing debasement with Ed. Ed’s only been faking because he knew it would get him somewhere, I mean it did convince more than half the crew to leave. Those people will live, they will be safe and get rescued. Him behaving him that way got him something huge and I think he convinced himself if he just kept doing it then…it would keep working. You haven’t seen what I’ve seen, Kelly he…”

“I’ve seen more than you think I’ve seen but I’m sure not all of it.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s like porn to him, or foreplay or…he made me watch videos of a lot of stuff you two were doing. That’s how I knew it was edited out of context. It was the raw footage, not the…well, whatever he showed the crew.” She rolled her eyes, “That’s when I figured it out. I mean…how could I tell you or anyone? He has always just been with me. He’s aroused enough by me and other women I knew this wasn’t some sort of gay fetish thing, he just really likes watching people humiliate themselves or be humiliated. Desperate. He likes to feel as powerful as possible.”

“Yeah…which is weird because he doesn’t even have a small dick,” Alara said.

“What? How would you even know that?” She asked, “Sorry, that sounds defensive, I don’t care if you know but he said he never fucked you. He’s saving it for…whatever I stopped listening to him.”

“Well, he’s a liar,” Alara said dismissively, not wanting to explain the whole reason she knew this was because she saw it after dinner when Ed had it in his mouth.

“And so are you, or at very least you are avoiding telling me the truth.” Kelly accused.

“Sometimes, you can sleep better at night when you don’t know what the truth is.” Alara said, “So, I can tell you what I saw and what I remember which isn’t much because he shocked me until I passed out very shortly after it started or you can just live in blissful ignorance forever or until a point where someone else tells you.”

“I think I’d rather know.” Kelly said after a long moment, “I’m not going to tell Ed I know but I’d rather understand what happened and deal with it before he has to tell me because I assume it’ll be something eventually he’ll tell me.”

“Possibly.” She said, “But if he never tells you can you just-“

“I won’t, I swear. You’d have to at least agree that me knowing would give me a better vantage point to what he has to suffer though. Right?” She asked. She definitely had a point. Regardless of if Ed ever told her or not, knowing what happened would give her better ability to know how to help him and eventually what to say. She wondered why Blake wasn’t trying to bust in there and stop this conversation but in a way, she figured that Kelly hearing about it was just plain humiliating to Ed and he probably liked it. She grumbled to herself about playing right into his hands.

“The last thing I saw before I tried to warn Ed and I was knocked out was him on his knees suck-“

“Okay got it.” Kelly cut her off. “Fuck you actually…are you sure that’s what you saw?”

“Yeah.” She whispered, “I’m sorry. I tried to stop him but…”

“There’s very little stopping Ed when he becomes convinced of…whatever he became convinced of.” Kelly said, “There wasn’t going to be much you could have done without one of them stopping you. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

“I’ll try but it’s not easy.” She said. “What do we do now?”

“I don’t know.” Kelly said, “It remains to be seen how Ed is and I guess we go from there.” Alara nodded and tried to get comfortable where she was on that leash. It wasn’t easy because she couldn’t even lay down completely without choking herself. She had no ability to relax so instead, she leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. God she really wished this wasn’t happening.

* * *

It wasn’t long later that she was woken again by Blake. He was nudging her with his foot as he stood over her. She groaned and looked up at him, tempted to really smack him a good one but knowing he was somehow controlling the collar. Though she hadn’t seen a remote yet, she knew it had to be controlled somehow and once she figured out how to stop it she would be better off. For now, it was anyone’s guess. She glared at him and he unclipped her leash, tugging on it without saying a word. She got up, onto her feet and he looked at her.

“You know, I’m in such a good mood, I’m going to allow you to walk.” He told her and started to lead her out of there. She didn’t like the sound of that, it made her heart skip a beat, but she refused to give him the pleasure of a response and just followed after him silently. She was taken into another room, another bedroom. Smaller than the one that seemed to be the master bedroom that Kelly was in. More like a guest bedroom in the entire suite that seemed to make up the captain’s quarters where they were. Ed was laying on the bed, he was under the blankets but seemed to also be shirtless, possibly naked. Blake unclipped the leash and she ran towards him.

“Ed?” She asked softly, dropping to her knees by the bed and moving to place her hand on his face and look into his eyes. He was gone. There was no Ed left in there.

“Alara.” He said, “I’m fine, no need to panic.”

“Ed you…you’re not fine.”

“Of course I am, don’t be a stupid bitch about it.” He said. There was far more true venom behind those words, she could feel it in her soul. She felt cold and sick, her head slowly turned to look at Blake.

“What did you do?” She growled.

“I won.” He grinned. She screamed and lunged right at him but he knocked her back. In fact, the hit was so incredibly hard she was thrown into the wall where she impacted on her back and landed on the floor. She gasped and wheezed for air, not expecting that at all. He was nearly her match in strength, but how? HOW? None of this made sense. She couldn’t even fight this man, he didn’t need the collar it was just to hurt her because he probably liked that too.

“H-How…” She panted, pulling herself to her feet again. If she had been anywhere near expecting that kind of blow she might have fared far better, might have. He was as powerful as any Xelayan she’d ever fought.

“How did I break him? Well I mean that was nothing, he even let me fuck him.” Blake laughed.

“I don’t mean that. How did you hit me so hard? You’re human!” She accused.

“Am I?” He asked. “Well mostly. DNA and gene therapy can go a long way when you don’t utilize it legally.”

“DNA?” She panted, “Fuck…are you…FUCK!”

“Got that right, little girl, you didn’t think I’d be dumb enough to do any of this to Xelayans if I also couldn’t match them right?” He asked, “Obviously it’s not something I care to show right away but whatever like I said. I’m in a good mood.”

“Fine then…then I challenge you!” She said in as firm a voice as she could possibly have in that moment.

“Challenge?” He laughed.

“Yes! You’re pirates I know you have some code of conduct that says I can challenge you and if I win then I own the ship.” She insisted.

“Of course.” He laughed, “What is it? Til the death or until I knock you out?”

“Knock you out first.” She growled.

“Alright, sweetheart,” He said and took a deep breath, “Tell you what, I’ll do this because I am not going to lose and maybe it’ll finally break you. To tell you the truth you are one stubborn little cunt. I’ll knock you out and when you lose I’ll fuck you so hard you’ll wish you were never born.”

“HA!” Ed said loudly.

“Fuck you.” She growled, “If I lose to you, then I’m fucked either way.”

“That’s the spirit.” He said. “I’ll see you in the arena. One hour.”

“Wait I-“

“You didn’t say when…and I’m the captain. I get to choose the time and place.” He walked over to her and attached the leash again. _Fuck_. This had been a mistake. There was no way she’d win against him how she was now. **None**. She didn’t even think it would work _but now?_ This was just going to be sad.

“At least leave me with him,” Alara said.

“Why? He’s gone, the Ed Mercer you knew…bye bye…” He laughed.

“Well maybe I don’t care, okay?”

“Fine,” Blake said then walked her over to the bed and attached the leash to the side of it. “Go nuts, but if you hurt him so help me God…”

“I’d never.” She hissed.

“Good girl. Remember, one hour.” He patted her on the head then walked out of the room laughing loudly as the doors shut behind him. She shook her head and then sat down on the bed by Ed. He looked at her as if he’d never seen her before.

“Ed,” Alara said, “I can’t imagine what he did to you or made you do but please…please fight.” She took his hands in hers gently only to immediately be struck by him, viciously and damn hard. Once again, not expecting anything like that she fell off of the bed to her knees.

“No one gave you permission to touch me, Pet.” He snarled. This was no longer an act and she could tell, it was terrifying. She fought back her tears and took in a deep breath, getting up again to sit on the bed. She was struck a second time, hard enough to knock her back. “Animals aren’t allowed on the bed.”

“ED PLEASE!” She yelled at him. “Please, I’m not an animal I’m-“

“You’re nothing more than a fuck toy, shut your whore mouth.” He growled at her coldly. She looked at him trying to get any sense of what was left. He seemed to be completely shattered, lost. She had to pull him back out of it. She didn’t know what Blake had done, but when he said he’d fucked Ed she definitely believed it. He’d lost his mind now. Probably realized what he’d done in order to try to prove that asshole wrong and collapsed into himself.

“Look at me, Ed…look at me dammit…SEE WHO I AM!” She yelled at him. He leaned in and grabbed her by the throat, looking deep into her eyes.

“You’re nothing more than a worthless, dirty little animal.” He breathed then gave her a nice little jerk and shoved her back. She hit the floor and moved away from him. This wasn’t working, and she didn’t know how to get it to work. She was so tired of this, so beaten down. _How the hell could she save him when she couldn’t even save herself?_ She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, praying that she’d think of something because they were running out of time and maybe…just maybe it was easier to give up.


	11. Showdown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is going to hate me for this chapter. It's dark and disturbing and I really should stop writing this fic. This is the closest it gets to rape though it's still technically dub-con. You've been warned.

Having nothing else to do for the hour before the battle, Alara meditated. The best she could. It was initially very hard to shut out all the distractions. Especially with how she was still dressed and the fact that she was sure she lost Ed. She knew she needed to calm herself if she was going to attempt to fight this man. There was no doubt in her mind she was going to lose but maybe if she put up a good enough fight she could throw doubts into the mind of his crew. Something. It was worth a shot if she was going to lose she was going to make it look like a good effort.

She was jolted out of her trance when Blake came in there and grabbed her leash giving it a nice tug to get her attention. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, then rose to her feet.

“I’ll give you one last chance to reconsider this.” He said.

“No.” She breathed.

“Alright, I’m not going to go easy on you. It’s going to take about 20 seconds at most to knock you out.” He said.

“Fine.” She said, “Then I deserve it.”

“Whatever.” He sighed and yanked her towards the door, “Coming Ed?”

“Wouldn’t miss it!” Ed said happily. He scrambled out of bed and started to get dressed, which confirmed Alara’s initial assumption that he was naked under there. She shuddered but was pulled out of the room before she could see much of anything else.

He led her through the ship and down a few decks to the arena. Once they were in there, he unclipped her leash and motioned for her to go to the center of the room. He joined her a few moments later and had the lights raised to reveal that basically, the entire crew of the ship was there. Maybe a few essential crew were missing, or prisoners. She really didn’t know. It seemed like the entire place was full and it was a large arena, yet, considering the size of the actual ship that couldn’t have been everyone on board. Gordon was there, next to Kelly, but he had a bottle of beer in his hand and was drinking it much to her annoyance. Ed was sitting in a sectioned off area meant for the Captain and his guests. Well, she was totally fucked now.

“Gordon?” She whispered.

“Yeah turns out if you give him booze he’ll just keep drinking it and do anything you want.” Blake laughed. “Okay rules are simple, no holds barred, no weapons, first one to get knocked out loses.”

“What if I win?” Alara asked.

“You won’t.” He laughed and without any warning threw a punch to her face that just narrowly missed hitting her as she dodged out of the way. “Huh,…tricky little one.”

“You’re damn right.” She breathed then sidestepped him and threw a punch right at the side of his head. It knocked him down, sliding him across the floor a bit, but it did not knock him out. He growled and got back up to his feet, running at her full force. He was too quick for her to get out of the way and she ended up being slammed into one of the arena walls, the air knocked out of her. He pinned her there.

“One good hit isn’t enough.” He hissed putting his forearm to her throat and applying pressure. She struggled for a moment, her air quickly running out, before being able to pull her leg up and kick him back. He flew a good few feet and landed, but it barely seemed to phase him. He was back up in seconds flat, coming right towards her. She dodged and twisted, grabbing his arm. He put his arm over her’s and used it to flip and throw her against the wall again. She cried out and fell to the floor, gasping for air. Not only did he have the strength of a Xelayan he was a very good fighter. This was someone who had definitely trained in combat, he hadn’t just assumed he’d be good because he was strong. The ironic thing was that he wasn’t even that much taller than her. He was a short man, did not look like he could do any of this but it was probably more beneficial to him. If he was underestimated then he could really only impress people with his abilities.

“Had enough?” Blake asked, coming towards her. He’d barely broken a sweat and she was already down for the count. She got up again, her legs shaking. He hadn’t taken her out of those damn high heels so they were certainly not helping her balance.

“ALARA STOP IT!” Kelly yelled at her. She ignored it and took in another deep breath, trying to steady herself. She shook her head at Blake and lunged at him, only to be hit once again, right in the jaw. That was enough to send her to the floor, with a fracture to her face. Once she was down that time, all she could taste and smell was blood. Her ears were ringing and the crowd was cheering. Try as she might she was unable to find any more power or energy within herself to stand up, and it was shortly after that point that the blackness took her over once again.

* * *

When she woke up she was once again in the smaller guest room where Blake had brought her before and Ed had been laying down. Except now she was chained to the wall, and standing up. Her wrists over her head. She’d apparently been so knocked out none of this had woken her up. She groaned, her head was pounding and her body ached, she tried to pull away from the restraints but once again they held. She needed to stop thinking she could fight this because this man knew Xelayans well and had done his research. As she became more aware of the room and her surroundings she realized she was naked and then remembered what Blake had said about fucking her.

“No…” She muttered and rested her forehead against the wall in front of her. She heard the door open and her head turned to try to look at who had just come in there. It was Blake, and Ed, except Blake was holding a whip in one hand and a blindfold in the other. He walked up behind her and tied it over her eyes. “Please don’t do this.” She begged.

“I told you what was going to happen when you lost.” He said, “Been looking forward to this.” He laughed. She screamed loudly and tried to struggle again, hoping that maybe something in her was able to break the chains around her wrists but nothing was working. She was also considerably weaker in this state because of what had just happened to her. It was only about thirty seconds after that point that she felt the whip slash over her back. She screamed out and then gasped, tensing up. Then it happened again, and again, then a fourth time.

“STOP IT!” She screamed. “FUCK! ED! DO SOMETHING!”

“Who the hell do you think is whipping you?” Blake said, and his voice was right by her ear, a second later she was lashed again there was no damn way Blake was doing it. She let out a choked yell and tried to catch her breath. “You’re not going to piss yourself again are you?”

“Go to hell.” She hissed and was struck again. Blake laughed, and she sensed movement. He seemed to be leaning right against the wall next to her probably watching as this happened and she was unable to stop it. After a total of fifteen lashes and she could feel her back was definitely oozing blood, it stopped. Blake leaned in and licked her cheek. She groaned in disgust but wasn’t able to do much to move. She wouldn’t have been able to get out of the way even if she wasn’t restrained. She was too tired and broken.

“I’m going to enjoy this.” He purred in her ear.

“PLEASE! STOP! STOP I’LL DO ANYTHING YOU WANT JUST…JUST DON’T!” She begged him. She felt his rough hand on her back, his nails dragging down over the cuts already made there, she let out a cry of pain but it was weak, her throat was hoarse now and she was entirely out of breath.

“Anything?” He asked softly. “Are you sure you want to say that to a pirate?” He had a point and even in her emotionally taxed state of mind she knew that it could be a mistake, she wasn’t sure what to do or how to answer in the moment so she ended up sobbing as she tried to stall for time. There was no getting out of this without someone else getting hurt and she was sure of it. He would make her do something to Kelly or to Gordon or any other random innocent person on the ship. Could she really throw them under the bus to avoid this?

“N-No just…just get it over with then.” She whispered finally.

“Good girl.” Blake purred. There was movement behind her again and she was roughly penetrated from behind. She let out a tiny yelp but then held her breath, her hands clenching into fists, refusing to beg or plead. There was no way she was going to give him any sort of pleasure in this moment if she could help it. He was certainly taking his time, jerking into her quite violently, his hands gripping her hips. She could feel him panting, his hot breath on her neck and ear. Just when she felt like she was about ready to scream from this, she heard his voice. “Oh you didn’t think I was going first did you?”

Once again he was right next to her and his voice was calm, normal. It was coming from the wrong side for him to possibly be behind her doing this. She gasped, and the blindfold was pulled from her eyes. She turned her head to see Ed behind her, except his eyes were cold, dark. Almost soulless. This made her feel slightly better, only in the way that knowing it wasn’t Blake who had his hands on her but she was also rather horrified it was this easy for him considering how much she’d been begging in terror moments before this point. Though it might explain why he was taking so damn long to get off. She swallowed hard and squeezed her eyes shut turning her head back to face the wall.

“Don’t worry,” Blake said, “I’m sure I’ll have my moment with you soon enough.” He patted her on the cheek and laughed loudly. She let out a low whimper and rested her face against the wall again waiting for Ed to be anywhere near done with this. Except it wasn’t happening. Not really. Some part of him was still in there and definitely knew this was wrong. She didn’t want him to get in trouble over this but she wasn’t sure how to help and she also wasn’t certain she wanted to help. It was only the smallest of things she sensed but she remembered before, what she had told him. How she didn’t want him to feel like he was raping her. Ultimately, this was better than Blake even if only by a once percent margin. She hated herself for thinking that way but she really had no other choice.

Blake smiled at her and stepped away from the wall going to sit on the bed to watch this whole scene unfold. She took in a few breaths and managed just the tiniest moan of pleasure, breathless and nearly a whisper and she forced herself to relax, thrusting back towards him slightly.

“I knew you wanted it you stupid bitch,” He snarled in her ear. She still couldn’t tell if he was faking it or if it was just the subconscious part of him knowing how wrong this was holding him back but the moment she managed to show some slight consent to it he seemed to relax too, slowing down a bit until he was able to orgasm. It really did nothing for her but she knew it would take forever if she didn’t do something and it might end in Blake hurting her or the both of them. She didn’t like either of those options. Once he had finished, he moved back from her and took a deep breath. There weren’t any words there was just silence until a door opened and shut.

“Well, suppose we should get you cleaned up or something. Mostly because I don’t want you staining anything you end up laying down on.” Blake told her. He clipped the leash to her collar and released the restraints, pulling back roughly. She yelped and fell to her knees, then tried to get up. “No, you can go back to crawling, think I proved my point about who won.” She was too weak to even attempt to argue with this and crawled behind him, out of the room and into the master bedroom, where Kelly was on the bed. She seemed to be asleep until she heard them enter. Once she saw what was going on she sat up quickly.

“Alara…”

“She’s fine, go back to sleep you dumb slut.” Blake snapped at her. She growled softly but laid down again. Alara figured that considering what she just saw him do to her in the arena she knew better than to try to physically fight him in any capacity. Moral was low and it was only because of her and her stupid insistence that she fight him. She should have retracted the challenge the moment it was issued. Blake pulled her into the bathroom and looked at her. “You have five minutes. Use them wisely.” He then unclipped her leash and walked out. Not having the energy to stand just yet, she crawled into the shower and started the water. No matter how hot it was, she still felt covered in the filth that resonated from every aspect of this situation and she didn’t know if there was ever going to be a way to get rid of it.


	12. Triggers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter deals with some rough stuff and attempted sexual assault so just watch out.

“How long has he been like this?” 

“About two days.” Kelly said turning to look at the psychiatric counselor that had been sent to Ed’s apartment at her request. Ed was pretty much the definition of catatonic. Kelly could get him to eat, move around, sleep, do basic things but it took a lot of effort on her part and he just barely did them without the maximum amount of help that she could give him without it getting gross or creepy. “He hasn’t said a word since our release either. Won’t talk to the authorities. Won’t help. It’s not that I don’t think he doesn’t want to I just…something’s wrong.” 

The doctor, Lila Daniels, had arrived that morning and she was now looking at Ed who was quite a mess, sitting on the couch and staring blankly at the wall. He had a few days worth of stubble on his face, bags under his eyes, and a scar across his cheek. That was only puzzling because it was something that could have been healed easily with a very simple procedure. If she had to guess, he didn’t want anyone to get close enough to him to touch him.

“He’s not letting anyone touch him, is he?” Lila asked. 

“No.” 

“Then how are you-“

“A lot of yelling.” Kelly said, “The other day I put my hand on his arm out of frustration and he backhanded me. It was the most I’d seen him move since he was released. Now, I should have reported that I suppose but I’m positive he didn’t mean to do it. He didn’t say anything after, just gave me the most pathetic look I’d ever seen. It was reflex. I don’t know what happened to him on that ship after…after I was released with Gordon. It sounds horrible but I have enough of my own shit to cope with I can’t babysit him so-“ 

“So you called me.” Lila said, “No it’s fine. This is part of my job. Go home, take care of yourself. I’ll see what I can do without having him fully institutionalized.” 

“Thank you, Doctor.” Kelly said then walked over to Ed. “I’m leaving now, I’ll come and visit later. I promise.” She told him and then waved. She wasn’t sure if he was really comprehending what she was saying or not but she figured it would be worse if she treated him like a piece of furniture and didn’t say anything to him at all before she left. He didn’t acknowledge her leaving in any sort of way. Lila noted this as the door shut and she took a seat in a chair across from him to look him over. 

“Ed,” She said, “I’m Lila Daniels. I’m here for you to talk to. Take care of you for a bit and see if we can’t get you back to where you were before. Okay?” She knew that this was probably going to take a lot of work. She also knew that she wanted to avoid getting him into a hospital at all costs. A case like this would be better treated in the patient’s home where he felt comfortable and safe. To force him back to an unfamiliar place against his will could lock him up for good and they still needed to find out what happened to Alara and where she was. 

All she’d had available to her were the statements that were released to her. Both Kelly and Gordon had allowed her access to their official incident reports so she could read what happened to Ed. They had agreed that if Ed wouldn’t talk himself, she needed to start somewhere. What she had read was probably the most heinous thing she’d ever read. She was still young and it was early in her career but she did hope this was the worst thing she ever had to deal with because she couldn’t think of something more difficult. It was also an extreme rarity, having to come in contact with victims of legitimate space pirates of all things. 

She had also read Ed’s file, at least whatever was on public record. Trying to get a feel for him and what made him tick. It wouldn’t be terribly easy finding something they could click on if he wouldn’t talk and all she had was the most basic information possible on him. She got out one of her data pads and read it over quickly then went through her bag to get out an injector, programming it with a decently heavy sedative. Not one that would knock him out, one that would relax him and quite possibly get him to talk. The only reason she thought to do this was his physical posture was tense. As much as he just was sitting on the couch, staring blankly, he was wound as tightly as someone could be while also giving off a casual appearance of lounging. The only problem was getting close enough to him to inject him. 

“I’m going to give you something to help relax you a bit.” She stood up and took a few very slow steps towards him, holding the injector in his line of sight. “It won’t knock you out, you’ll still be aware of everything, it won’t take your memories, it will just give you some stress relief and-“

“Do it.” He muttered. “Now.” She was kind of surprised to hear that but it spurred her into action and she got it to his neck, pressing down the injector button. The effects were almost immediate and he went far limper, his posture going from wound up to wound down, looking like he was relieved. She stepped back. 

“That better?” 

“Fuck…” He muttered and then laid down a smile cross his face and he laughed softly but she knew it was the effects of the drug. This one wasn’t used other than in extreme cases and he was certainly someone who was that case. “That’s good shit.” 

“I know.” She said and put the injector away. “No one offered you a sedative yet I take it?” 

“The stuff they’ve been giving me was to knock me out.” He breathed and then rubbed his eyes, “I suppose that’s helpful when you just don’t want to think anymore but it’s not if you want to communicate. I know the shit you gave me exists, so do they, so why they didn’t-“

“They are Union medical.” She said, “This stuff is basically narcotics…you know how they feel about that.” 

“Aren’t you Union?” He asked. 

“No, privately licensed.” She said. “Union didn’t want to touch this case anymore. They wanted to institutionalize you. I heard through the grapevine. It’s a high profile case. I volunteered my services.” 

“I can’t exactly…I mean…you really shouldn’t-“

“You aren’t wasting my time any more than the bigwigs I see with their trivial problems.” She said. Even though their society was no long monetarily based, certain people had certain privileges over others. Including entertainers and what qualified as celebrities for their time period. Politicians, and people who far outranked Ed in the union. Though they did have their fair share of genuine issues, none of them had problems to the likes of his. She hadn’t been licensed through the Planetary Union, she’d been accepted into a different and far more prestigious academy on a Mars colony and had gone there instead. 

“Right, and how long until this stuff wears off?” 

“Few hours.” She said. “If deemed necessary you’ll get another dose to get you through some of the tougher points of this therapy.” 

“It’s all tough points.” He sighed and closed his eyes. “How much do you already know?” 

“I know what you were forced into with Lieutenant Kitan. I know what you were forced into with this Blake man, allegedly. I know about the mutiny, the crew walking out on you, except for Lieutenant Malloy and Commander Grayson. I know about the violence you witnessed, the death battles, the sexual assaults, the torture-“

“Then why do you need to know anything else? You got it covered.” He said. 

“You and I both know that it’s not just that simple.” She said, “You are so affected by what took place there you could barely speak. You hit Commander Grayson just for-“ 

“Fine.” He snapped, “I get your point. Where do we have to start?” 

“We don’t have to start anywhere.” She said, “We can talk about anything you want. That painting over there, your favorite movie, the foods you like to eat. Anything you want. The important thing is to talk, no matter what the subject.” She got up and headed into his kitchen where she got them both a cup of coffee and came back, setting one down in front of Ed before taking a seat across from him. He looked over at it then sat up and grabbed it, moving it to his lips to take a sip. 

“How is me talking about that stuff going to help anything?” He asked. 

“It’ll at least allow me to get to know you a bit better.” She said, “Which is always helpful in a doctor-patient relationship of this nature.” He stared at her and sipped some more of his coffee. 

“Classic movies are good.” He said and relaxed back again, the coffee in his hand, “Westerns, romance, some musicals…comedy.” 

“Are we talking classic like, fifty years ago or classic like all the way back to the 20th century?” She asked. 

“Mostly the 20th century.” He chuckled. “You know about that stuff?” 

“Yeah. Think it was better back then personally. A bit more wholesome.” She smiled. “I also think a lot more effort was put into it. These days you can just push a few buttons and make a whole cinematic feature. Where is the heart?” 

“True…true.” He sighed and took another sip of his coffee. “I didn’t get your name…did you say it?” 

“Lila Daniels.” She said. 

“Nice to meet you.” He said, “Wish it didn’t have to be like this, though.” From what he could tell she was very attractive. She wasn’t wearing the sexiest outfit ever. Business attire. Not a uniform. It covered most of her but she was young, pretty face, bight green eyes and full pouty lips. He found himself quickly lost in her eyes, her voice. She was talking again but he wasn’t really…comprehending any of it. He could only see how her lips moved, her tongue coming out to lick them every so often. How she tucked a stray strand of hair back behind her ear because it had fallen out of the intricate updo she’d had it in. Then pain. Lots of pain. He was on the floor, curled up and couldn’t breathe. 

“Ed?” He heard her say his name it sounded like her voice was coming from underwater. The ringing in his ears starting to subside, he opened his eyes and blinked a few times to clear the tears from them. What the fuck had just happened? He saw her move to kneel by his side, she was shaking and her breathing was labored. Her lipstick smeared just a bit over her cheek. “Ed, can you hear me?” She put a hand on his arm softly. 

“F-Fuck…” He muttered, “What…what happened?” 

“I had to uh…stun you.” She said, “You tried to attack me.” 

“I what?” He asked, shocked to hear it. Yet, the worst part was that he actually did believe her. That he had done that. All the shit Blake had done to him and filled his head with as it pertained to women. He’d lost an ample amount of control on that ship and done some horrible things. Horribly, perverse things. It was starting to flood back to him full force and he scrambled back, away from her, still sitting on the floor with his back against the couch. He shook his head. “No…no you need to leave.” 

“I’m not leaving.” She said and moved closer to him. 

“STAY THE FUCK BACK!” He ordered. 

“Ed,” She said calmly, “If people start leaving because you do this, you aren’t going to get better. I came prepared. I’m fine aren’t I?” 

“Your face…oh dear God your neck…” He motioned to her neck which definitely had the outline of a handprint on it. He had been choking her and completely unaware of it. Had he gone into a blackout? No wonder she stunned him, he damn well deserved it if that’s what he had been doing. “It’s not safe for you here.” 

“I’ll decide when that point is.” She said, “I’ll be fine. Just trust me.” 

“I can’t even trust myself.” He whispered. 

“And I’m here to get you to a point where you can. No one said it was going to be easy. Not for me, and especially not for you.” She said, “I’m going to give you a bit more medication, that should prevent you from attacking again.”

“Should?” 

“Well, in theory. The only other stuff I can give you is to knock you out and if push comes to shove I’m going to do that but what you need is someone to work through this with you, not keep knocking you out.” She said, “Please, just let me try. I want to help you.” He nodded and she backed up to grab the injector again. He felt his entire body tighten, afraid that he might jump on her again once she got near him but she was able to inject him before he could lose control again. She groaned as the medication worked its magic in his system, relaxing him even deeper until he was loose enough to crawl back onto the couch and lay there. 

“I’m…I’m so sorry.” He whispered. 

“I am too.” She said and rubbed his arm gently before pulling a blanket over him. “How about we just watch a movie? Huh? Might put you more at ease. We can try this again later. I’m going to get cleaned up, I’ll be right back.” He glanced up at her. Despite the fear she must have been feeling, because he could see it in her eyes, he could also see how determined she was to stay there and help him. Considering the fact that the past two days all he’d seen was people give up on him, even with every fiber of his being internally screaming for help, he needed this. He felt awful but he also felt that maybe she was right. Someone was going to have to get him through this but he still thought that maybe the best person might be a Xelayan to keep him in his place. 

“Alara…” he said. 

“Huh?” She asked as she came back from the bathroom looking far less ruffled up at that point. 

“Alara, where is she? What happened to her? She got off of the ship right?” He asked, sounding frantic. Lila calmly took a seat across from him and drew in a deep breath. “Oh fuck that’s not good…” 

“She’s still being held captive. We need your help to find her.” Lila informed him. 

“My help? MY HELP? Ha! What the fuck help am I like this? If I’m not wrong I just tried to rape you without realizing I was doing it!” He snapped, “The fuck do you think I remember about…I mean…they are certainly in international space now. The Union can’t touch them there!” 

“There are a lot of things the Union can do if an officer is being held hostage.” Lila said, “Exceptions can be made and-“

“She’s on a fucking pirate ship. Pirates! Blake…he’s…he’s just pure evil. Barely human.” Ed insisted, “If she didn’t get off of that ship with us she’s already dead.” 

“There’s no need to think that-“ 

“Dead.” He growled and closed his eyes, “I want to sleep. Put me to sleep.” 

“I know this is hard for you but…” 

“SLEEP!” He roared at her. Though Lila wasn’t too keen on knocking him out to solve every problem he was going to have she figured that maybe it was best, just this once, to do what he was asking. She grabbed her injector and programmed it to dose him with something that would help him drift off comfortably. What she didn’t want was for him to be knocked out. He needed actual sleep, even if that also meant horrific nightmares. No one could exist properly without real sleep. After she injected him he reached up and grabbed her arm firmly. She gasped and looked down at him. “Thank you.” He whispered and then nodded off, his grip releasing soon after. This was a lot worse than she had considered before now but she was too scared to let go. Too scared to report it. Not scared of him but scared of what may happen to him if she didn’t get him over this initial hump into emotional wellness. She wasn’t going to give up, and she certainly wasn’t going to allow him to give up either.

* * *

> _ “I want to negotiate for their release.” Alara said softly. She’d been in this cage for a few days now, mostly. It was in Ed’s room. His new one. The one that she had initially been brought to the night that Blake had coerced him into sex or whatever had transpired there beyond the blow job she initially saw. Ed had become a thousand times worse to her and far more cruel. If she wasn’t also sure he was being drugged (along with the fact that his mind had been ripped to shreds) she may have hated him for what he was doing to her. As it was, she could only take pity on him because he had gone from a very strong man to completely broken.  _
> 
> _ “What even makes you think you have the bargaining chips to attempt such a thing?” Blake asked her, getting down by the cage to look her in the eyes.  _
> 
> _ “If you don’t ask, the answer will always be no.” She replied.  _
> 
> _ “Alright, I’ll humor this lame attempt. Who do you want released and what are you offering in return?” He asked.  _
> 
> _ “Gordon and Kelly.” She said. “I’ll give you a blowjob.” _
> 
> _ “Really?” He laughed, “That’s all you think you need to offer me? Try harder.”  _
> 
> _ “I’ll do it in front of them, all of them, willingly and nicely. As if I actually like you. Like I…I’m your pet.” She said feeling disgusted that she even had to say any of this. She was currently concerned with Kelly’s mental state and the fact that Gordon hadn’t seemed to appear sober since Blake had figured out that Gordon was just going to keep drinking himself stupid as long as he was supplied alcohol, which made him incredibly easy to manipulate. She glanced over at Ed who was sitting on his bed, blank stare, nine miles long. She’d stopped trying to talk to him a while ago as she couldn’t figure out what he heard and what he didn’t. Maybe he heard her just fine but the comprehension was the issue. Maybe he’d shut her out entirely. Right now he was drugged up, thanks to Blake and she had no idea what he had been given.  _
> 
> _ “Need a bit more than that.” He said, “You’ll blow Gordon as well.” _
> 
> _ “What? I don’t think he’s even going to let-“ _
> 
> _ “He’s drunk all the time, he’ll let you.” Blake laughed, “Those are the terms and conditions. Oh and you can’t tell any of them why you are doing it, you will do it at my command as if you are just following orders.” She glared him and shook her head gently but then took in a deep breath and let it out.  _
> 
> _ “Fine. Let’s get this party started then.” _

* * *

Ed woke up with a gasp in a cold sweat. His body was just soaked and he looked around the room quickly. Lila was still there but she was asleep in one of the chairs. It was obvious to him from the position that she had fallen asleep in she hadn’t meant to. She’d been trying to stay up and watch him but it hadn’t worked out very well for her. He sighed and got up, heading into the bathroom so that he could take a piss and shower. It was the first time in what felt like weeks that he actually wanted to shower, even though it really had only been a few days. 

He didn’t know what that dream was, or nightmare, hell, maybe it was just a memory. It definitely wasn’t something he had been able to recall before going to sleep but he was damn sure it happened. That it was a conversation that he’d witnessed or heard at some point but hadn’t been all there considering the massive quantities of drugs he’d been given. He still wasn’t sure what he was dosed with and since he hadn’t let anyone get near him long enough to test, it was probably going to be too late to figure it out. It didn’t really matter anyway. Probably some weird pirate cocktail of all sorts of illegal shit to zone him out and make him highly open to suggestion. 

As he climbed into the shower, he was sure as hell it was Alara who had negotiated the release of Kelly and Gordon. Though he could previously remember it happening, he couldn’t remember why it had happened and he had no memory of Blake giving him any sort of reasoning for it other than he had gotten ‘bored’ with Gordon’s antics and Kelly wasn’t fun in bed any longer. Both reasons were perfectly valid, or at least believable to him and would have always been had he not recovered the memory he just had. He wondered what else was there to recover and what kind of amnesic properties the drugs Blake had been feeding him contained. 

Once out of the shower, he shaved and brushed his teeth. He then headed into the kitchen and replicated himself some cereal and coffee and went back to the couch where he had been before. He was stunned that this random doctor had stayed the night considering what he’d put her through. He admired it as much as he thought it was the dumbest thing imaginable. He wasn’t sure if he should wake her or not so he just sat there and ate his food while looking her over, trying to figure out just what had went wrong before and why he’d been triggered to attack her the way he had. She must have done or said something that drew it out of him. Blake must have programmed a trigger into him as that was nothing he’d ever have done on his own. Slowly her eyes opened and once she seemed to realized she was still there and had fallen asleep she jerked wide awake and cleared her throat. 

“You’re eating.” Was the first thing she said, “I mean it’s…Lucky Charms but it’s better than nothing.” 

“Hey!” He said seriously, “Lucky Charms are just fine.” Then he couldn’t help but laugh at the idea because she was kind of right but fuck it. She laughed softly and got up, stretching a bit. 

“I’m going to regret sleeping that way. How long was I out?” 

“No idea.” He said, “I…uh…I remembered something that I think I might have just blacked out before.” 

“Oh?” She asked, “Do you want to talk about it?” 

“Not really,” He said and took another bite of food, “But it’ll probably help, right?” She nodded and sat back down and he saw how she was eyeing him. Still on high alert from the other night, he didn’t blame her. “She negotiated for the release of Gordon and Kelly by offering some…sexual favors to Blake.” 

“How does that make you feel?” Lila asked him. He wanted to be annoyed because that was so stereotypically cliche as an answer but it wasn’t incorrect to ask him that. It was more that he was surprised she hadn’t asked him what the sexual favors were. He felt that would have been the logical follow up question, though he didn’t have the mind of a psychiatrist. He mostly had the mind of a nosy pervert. She probably figured that he’d tell her if he thought it was important to include that detail. 

“Enraged.” He said and took another bite of food. She took her hair down from the elaborate updo it was in. She had long hair, it reached almost down to her waist. He started to gaze at her as she ran her fingers through it then realized what he was doing and snapped out of it. This wasn’t normal. The gaze at least. It had to be something with her hair that was triggering him but what and why? The last thing he remembered before attacking Lila before was her tucking her hair back behind her ear. At strand of it at least. It was possible that was the trigger but even if it was, where did it come from? “I mean, I was the Captain there. Everything just fell on her and she…she pulled it together she was really trying and I did nothing. I just lost my mind, I let myself lose my mind and basically fed her to the wolves.” 

“You shouldn’t blame yourself it’s not-“

“It’s not my fault? Really? That’s what you are going to say? Look, I know you are just trying to do your job and whatever but if you aren’t going to be honest with me and my actions then I don’t want-“ 

“No it really wasn’t your fault.” She said firmly, “That’s the honest truth. You had been through hell it’s amazing you didn’t snap until the point that you did. You watched the death of your crew, you were tortured, you were coerced into sexually assaulting and actually assaulting your own officers. You watched them mutiny on you and leave, believing you were a monster. If you think that wouldn’t destroy anyone then you aren’t being honest with yourself. If you want honesty about everything, I can do that, I mean, I’m used to sugar coating and bullshitting people but I don’t have to do it with you. In fact, that painting over that, it’s the ugliest damn thing I ever saw and I really hate your cologne. There, you happy now?” 

Ed turned to look at the painting, kind of shocked, though she wasn’t even wrong. Kelly liked that painting. He didn’t. He knew she liked it so he’d taken it in the divorce and kept it out of spite because he knew she wanted to keep it. He was also sure she didn’t know he hated it because he’d never mentioned it to her and now he had it, and any time she came over she had to see it and know that he had it. Yes, it was the most petty thing ever but in his mind he’d at least won something out of it. He turned back to look at Lila. 

“You’re right about the painting but screw you about the cologne.” 

“Noted.” She said then laughed softly. He laughed as well and shook his head, going back to eating his cereal. 

“Sorry I’m just…I don’t want to be fed a whole bunch of crap about how I shouldn’t feel guilty because I did everything I could when really, I didn’t.” 

“Here’s the thing.” Lila said, “You definitely did do all you could, I believe that, but I’m not here to tell you that you shouldn’t feel guilty. If you felt no guilt at all, then I’d be worried. Guilt, anger, even fear, all of that is completely natural to feel right now. I won’t tell you to stop feeling that way either. I’m only here to help you work through it. That’s all.” 

He looked back over at her and she was finishing putting her hair into the style it had been in before. His look turned into a gaze again and everything seemed to begin to melt around him as she reached up to tuck that one loose strand behind her ear. 

“STOP!” He commanded loudly. She froze exactly where she was, the only thing that moved were her eyes so she could look at him. “That…what you are doing, don’t…don’t do it.” 

“Do what?” She whispered, obviously terrified, “Move my hair behind my ear?” 

“Yes…yes put your hand down.” He said, “PUT IT DOWN!” 

“Okay okay!” She put her hand down quickly. He took a deep breath and looked away from her, he could feel himself shaking. His stomached in knots and he was convinced he might vomit in a moment if he didn’t take it easy and calm down. “W-What? What’s wrong?” 

“I-I don’t know but that…what you were going to do. It was fucking with my head. I felt like I was going to…well what I did last night.” He said. 

“Why?” She whispered. 

“I don’t know why but it must be what triggered me before so…just…don’t mess with your hair in front of me or something.” he said. “Do you…have any more of that stuff that…I need to calm down…please?” 

“Yeah hang on.” She said and grabbed the injector again. She reprogrammed it so that it was just the sedative she’d first used and came over to inject him. He sighed deeply with relief once she had and was able to sit back again and relax. His stomach and body completely unknotted and he could breathe normally again. “I’m uh…going to go into the bathroom and just clip everything in place so we don’t risk that happening again.” 

“T-Thanks.” He muttered and closed his eyes. At least he’d figured out the trigger but until he figured out why it was there or how to overcome it, he was going to be a walking time bomb of massive proportions. How many women did that casually on a day to day basis? Not just women but people in general? What the fuck had happened to him and why was that stuck in his brain? If Lila couldn’t help him figure it out and get past it, then all hope was lost. He’d be branded a nut job and locked up forever. This was hell and he was in it. 


	13. Flashing Back

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has some pretty nasty stuff in it, well like one really nasty thing, it serves to prove a point towards how awful Blake is. You've been warned.

> _ Weakness. She’s weak. Look at her. How close she is. She’ll lose it. She just needs a push. You can push her better than I can ever hope to. Break her, Ed. Break her hard.  _

“NO!” He yelled loudly, which jerked him awake once again. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been asleep, or when he’d even fallen asleep. He couldn’t remember what the dream was but he could hear that voice. That deep, rough, smokers voice. That nearly sinister British accent in his ear. The jagged, low frequency of that tone vibrating through his body. Shaking his very soul. He would never forget that voice as long as he lived and he was sure of it now. He looked around as he tried to catch his breath and realized that at some point he had made it into his bed. He wasn’t sure when that was either. These weird memory lapses were going to need to stop if he was ever going to get Alara back. He knew he’d left her there alive, physically. Emotionally was another story and the longer he waited the worse it was going to get. His door opened a moment later and Lila was standing there. Her hair was completely clipped up. No strands she could possibly push back to fuck with him. He was annoyed, for some reason whatever he had just dreamt he was pretty sure that was the answer to this but he couldn’t remember enough of it to actually pinpoint the problem. 

“Everything okay in here?” Lila asked. 

“Just…it was another bad dream.” He said, his hand coming up to rub at his face for a moment. “Is it just all in my head or are those drugs you are giving me…intensifying things?” 

“Little of both.” She said, “One of the drawbacks of the medication. Or benefits. Depends how quickly you want to recover.” She walked over to the bed and sat on the side of it, looking at him. He only held her gaze for a moment before looking away. 

“I did horrible things to her.” He said, “I mean she said it was okay but it was out of desperation more than it was out of true consent I think. Maybe it was fifty fifty, fuck, I can’t remember that. I do know…I know I…I definitely raped her.” 

“Well,” Lila said, “I think it’s debatable how much actual control you had over yourself and how much control he had. Blake was it?” 

“It doesn’t matter, I still did it and she doesn’t know why.” He said. 

“She’s not an idiot, from what I can tell. I’m sure she has some understanding of why even if her feelings towards it aren’t exactly favorable.” 

“Towards it? You mean towards me.” He said, “What did I tell you about honesty?” 

“Okay for all we know she hates you or she completely understands the situation and doesn’t. You can’t sit here and assume it’s one or the other because you don’t know, do you?” She asked him firmly. “I know it sucks that you don’t know but you have to accept that you don’t and you won’t until you find her again.” 

She definitely had a point, if he liked it or not. If he spent too much time beating himself up over how Alara might feel towards him and how bad it might be, he would never be able to focus on anything else. What was most important here and now was recovery. He doubted he’d be able to go on an actual mission though, no matter how badly he wanted to. He needed to be there when she was recovered even if he wasn’t specifically the one who rescued her. Everything they had been through together, he needed to show her he could be there and would be if she wanted him. If she didn’t, well, he’d deal with that when the moment came he supposed. 

“It’s never been like that for me before.” He said, “He just…he had so much control. I’m not easy to control I mean…”

“Yeah there’s a law about you and harassment isn’t there?” 

“Very funny.” He said blandly, “But you are right.” 

“Then I imagine it took a lot for you to get where you got and it’s understandable.” 

“But-“ 

“But it doesn’t change the guilt, anger, or fear you feel over it. I know.” She said and put her hand over his for a moment. “I made dinner.” 

“Made or replicated?” 

“Made.” She said, “I got bored, so sue me. You want some?” He hadn’t had something that wasn’t replicated in a very long time. There wasn’t too much difference in the taste but sometimes just the effort and care someone put into crafting a meal made all of the difference. He nodded and got out of bed. He walked to the door and headed out of there, not even caring what she made. It was more the thought that counted, and he’d eat it, no matter if it was bad or good. He needed to reconnect with a human being on a normal level and she seemed to be the only one willing to attempt it right now. She was also the only one he wanted to attempt it considering how easily he could be triggered into assault.

* * *

 

> _ “Why are we in here anyway?” Gordon asked, his words nearly so slurred that he couldn’t be understood. Alara at least felt slightly better about doing this now. Gordon would probably barely remember it, Ed was on another planet in his own mind, and Kelly…well hopefully she’d understand. Find some way to justify why she was doing it, why it was happening. She hadn’t seen the woman in days, but seeing her now, something was off. She looked sick. Possibly like she had an infection. Alara started to wonder if the bite she’d give her had gotten infected. It was certainly not anything Blake would give too much of a fuck about.  _
> 
> _ “Taught the pet a new trick,” Blake said proudly.  _
> 
> _ “I don’t want to see it,” Kelly muttered, Blake shot her a glare and she shut up. At least with how bad she looked, Alara knew she was doing the right thing. Gordon was slowly poisoning himself and Kelly was definitely sick. If she got them released now they’d have a far better chance at survival. Ed was there, he wasn’t really doing much of anything. He didn’t react to a lot. Not unless he was given an order from Blake. He was probably still high on whatever he had been given before. Alara looked at him, then Blake.  _
> 
> _ “Come here, pet.” He said, motioning to her. She took in a deep breath and crawled towards him. Once she was kneeling at his feet she looked up at him obediently and he reached down to stroke her cheek before unzipping his pants.  _
> 
> _ “Okay I really don’t want to see this,” Kelly said loudly.  _
> 
> _ “It’s her or you, bitch.” Blake threatened. Alara glanced at Kelly, trying to convey to her to just let her do this but she knew she wasn’t allowed to say why. It was very hard to bite her tongue on the matter but she had to. The moment they were released, they’d understand. Well, Kelly would. It would probably take Gordon a few days, a horrible hangover, and an explanation to really let it sink in. At least at that point, she wouldn’t have to face him and explain why she’d done what she had. Blake got his cock out and she opened her mouth. He was none to gentle about any of this because almost immediately it was down her throat and she was choking. She hadn’t been wrong about what she’d said before, that his cock was really big. Which was why it was puzzling he had such a power trip complex. Maybe it was because he had a huge dick, he thought he needed to swing it around everywhere.  _
> 
> _ His hand gripped the back of her head tightly as he shoved her down further, forcing her to take it. She really didn’t want to pass out. There was no telling what he’d do to her if she did. He might go back on his promise, he might punish her. It might be both. She forced herself to stop panicking and breathe through her nose as best she could. Just as her vision was tunneling he pulled her back enough that she could take in a few gasps of air before going right back in. She wondered if this was the same crap that Ed had gone through. She’d blacked out before she’d seen much of that but if it was, then fuck. She had a whole new appreciation for why his mind was so scrambled by that point. She was barely holding on to her last scrap of sanity as it was. Once they were gone, all of them, she would allow herself to lose it. Not before that point. It was going to take a massive promise to get Ed released but she’d do it. Whatever she had to sacrifice. She’d make sure he was out of there alive.  _
> 
> _ It felt like an eternity, but eventually, he pulled her back enough so he could cum in her mouth. His grip on her hair tightened and he growled, his hips thrusting a bit as he came. He held her there tightly, surely because he wanted her to swallow and she did because she knew there wasn’t any other choice. She glanced up at him, a few tears falling from her eyes as she tasted something else, just a mouthful, nothing more.  _
> 
> _ “Swallow it all,” He growled, a very sinister grin on his face. The only option she had was to swallow the piss he’d given her and she did it quickly to avoid having to keep that taste in her mouth. He shoved her back and she gagged violently, a hand going over her mouth. “If you puke you’re going to be licking it up like the damn dog you are. Understood?” She nodded and wiped her face, trying to breathe slowly and evenly to prevent her gag mechanism from triggering.  _
> 
> _ “Yes, sir.” She whispered.  _
> 
> _ “Good. Malloy’s turn.”  _
> 
> _ “Huh?” Gordon asked stupidly, almost as if he hadn’t at all been paying attention to what had happened before that moment. Which was good. Alara looked at Kelly, wondering how much she’d seen or even if she had gathered that part of what had just happened included swallowing piss. She certainly hoped not, but if Kelly had noticed there was nothing she could do. She also wasn’t indicating in any way if she had. Alara crawled towards Gordon and reached up with shaky hands to unzip his pants, wanting to get this over with quickly. “Dude…DUDE!” He said putting his hand on her forehead and shoving her back.  _
> 
> _ “Gordon…I want to do this for you.”  _
> 
> _ “Yeah well…I…woah there girl…I’m SOOOO drunk. You ever hear of whiskey dick?” He asked then looked at Blake, “Not to mention I mean there’s like a room full of people here I…wow no.” Alara looked at Blake not sure what she should do. Blake growled softly.  _
> 
> _ “You can’t get it up? Even for her? She’s a hot bitch even if she is a Xelayan.” Blake taunted.  _
> 
> _ “Dude I mean…yeah but…drunk.” He slurred, “Maybe like…tomorrow? If I’m sober.”  _
> 
> _ “I tried sir, and you…”  _
> 
> _ “FINE!” Blake snapped, “He’s a fucking pain in the ass anyway. Can’t do a damn thing but fly the ship and even that’s gone to shit. GUARDS!”  _
> 
> _ “Wait, what’s happening,” Kelly asked, suddenly becoming more alert.  _
> 
> _ “You two, you’re leaving.” Blake said, “It was nice having you around but it’s quickly gotten tedious and mundane. So, this is where we part ways.” The guards came in there, one of them yanking Kelly to her feet quickly, and to her credit, she felt as hard as her weakened body would let her.  _
> 
> _ “NO! Not without her!”  _
> 
> _ “Fuck that.” Gordon said, “No offense Kel but…seriously? Get me the hell out of here.”  _
> 
> _ “GORDON!”  _
> 
> _ “Oh fuck you.” He snapped, “I can’t take it anymore.” He looked at the guard who was obviously there for him and a gun was put to his back as he was escorted out of there. Kelly looked down at Alara.  _
> 
> _ “You did this for…us then?” Kelly asked, “How much before it’s not enough? How much before he kills you? Before you let him? STOP THIS MADNESS AND LET HER GO HOME!”  _
> 
> _ “I’ll take it under advisement,” Blake said in an utterly unamused and bitterly sarcastic tone of voice. The guard started to drag Kelly off as she screamed and attempted to struggle, cursing angrily at Blake for allowing this to continue and begging to stay there. It was heartbreaking in a way, to hear how much Kelly was passionate about saving them. To be fair, she was sure if Gordon was sober he would have been just as loyal but the alcohol had taken away the part of him that would give a shit. It was probably a lot easier to choose to be numb than to continue facing the reality of what was happening to his friends. Once the door shut and Kelly was out of earshot, Blake patted her on the head and turned to look at Ed. “Have a go at her.”  _
> 
> _ “What?” Alara asked, turning to look at Ed reaching up to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her hair nervously.  _
> 
> _ “Weakness. Look at her. She’s ready. You see that? Take her, NOW!” Blake roared. Before she could do anything to even think to defend herself, he was on top of her pinning her down and growling like some type of feral animal. I took everything in her not to fight him off because she knew the hell she’d pay if she did, herself or him. Maybe both. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath, attempting to relax and just let this happen. It’d be a lot less painful if she didn’t resist. _

* * *

“It was more than once.” She heard his voice out of nowhere and it woke her out of her sleep. Half because she was only really dozing and half because it seemed that even his default voice was a commanding tone. She wondered if he could control it, or if he was one of those guys who never learned how to whisper properly. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. After dinner, he’d offered her the guest room to sleep in then requested some time alone which she allowed but told him she’d be in to check on him, a lot, which turned out not to be true considering that she’d fallen asleep after only a few different check-ins. 

“Huh?” She asked. 

“More than once I raped…I raped Alara.” He said and came towards the bed. She nodded slowly still trying to process all of this as she woke up more fully. “You’re not going to tell anyone right?” 

“I can’t,” She said, “Doctor-patient confidentiality applies. However, that doesn’t mean she won’t tell anyone or you shouldn’t admit to it if you’re asked.” He nodded. 

“I suppose admitting it would make me look about one percent more decent than denying it ever happened.” He sighed, “I’ll want to support her in any possible way that I can once she gets back, denying I did anything to her or did anything wrong won’t help her…right?” 

“Probably not.” She replied, “However, I wouldn’t take that as a free pass to just start admitting things to her once you see her again. You’ll have to let her go at her own pace. We don’t know what type of condition she-“

“Yeah, I gathered that.” He said and then rubbed his face, “Why aren’t they doing anything?” 

“They?” She asked. 

“Them. The Planetary Union. You said that there are certain circumstances that if…I mean they should be-“ 

“Ed,” She put her hand on his arm gently, “There are certain circumstances. Alara is being held hostage and she didn’t willingly go into interplanetary space. She’s an officer, a Lieutenant and she’s security. Trust me, they won’t want to leave her out there. It’s considered a hostage situation but there is protocol they can’t just go in there and start firing. It’s not-“ 

“It’s not what?” 

“Well for one, that’s very dangerous to do in an area of space where there basically isn’t any law. For two, they have to locate the ship and as far as I know, they still haven’t.” Lila said, “They are looking though, going based on all the reports they got. From what I heard your navigator gave them some pretty key information as to where the ship probably is but they have to travel there, locate it, I mean you cannot expect this to be done in a few days.” 

“Well, it fucking sucks.” He muttered. 

“I know it fucking sucks.” She said, “But that’s just how it is. Besides, you want to be ready to help her when she gets back, right? How can you do this if you are in the state you are in right now?” 

“I want to be there to take that bastard down myself.” He growled. 

“You do realize…”

“Yeah, yeah I know that no one is going to allow that.” He rolled his eyes, “They should though if you want to talk about good therapy…” 

“Vengeance isn’t always as problem-solving as people make it out to be. So you go and attack him, kill him, then what? Are you no better than him? Would his death take away everything he did to you?” 

“No, but it would give me a sense of power back. Power that I don’t feel I have anymore.” He said. 

“You will get that power back through recovery, not through murder. If you kill a murderer it doesn’t change the number of murderers.” 

“Churchill?” 

“He phrased it a bit differently but the point is the same.” She said. He nodded like he understood what she was trying to say even though he didn’t look too happy about it. He stood up from the bed and headed for the door, turning to look back at her once he’d gotten there. 

“Thank you.” He said, “You seem like a pretty cool chick, kind of sucks that we had to meet this way.” 

“Well, there you go, you must feel a little bit better because you’re trying to hit on me.” She said then laughed and laid back down. 

“Is it working?” He laughed back. 

“Go to bed, Captain Mercer.” 

“Alright, alright.” He sighed then turned and left. He was an attractive man she couldn’t deny that but she knew that above all else she had to get him better and having sex with him at this point was not going to be the thing that would fix that.

* * *

She was in her own little world when she was here on his bed. He still wasn’t allowing her very much freedom. She, in some capacity still remembered who she was, where she had come from, and how she’d gotten there but he had her very well trained. It was less a result of her breaking and more one of her being conditioned. After Ed had been given his freedom, and with the state he was in she had no idea if he really did anything, she’d been put back into sensory deprivation and she wasn’t even sure how long this time. She’d stopped trying to count the days. It became pointless to her because on one hand, though she assumed there would be a rescue party for her, she had low hopes she’d ever actually be rescued. Especially if Ed didn’t get back to someone who could help him and that was debatable. 

Once she was good and worn down from that, as well as half insane, the shock treatments happened. Training shocks at least. She was given relatively easy and harmless commands at first. Sit, lay down, stay. Things that you would teach a dog. If she failed to immediately comply she was given a shock. She attempted to resist this but soon enough her body got tired of being shocked and then she found herself completely afraid of being shocked if she didn’t listen. The responses became more involuntary than she wanted them to become out of fear of pain. 

Of course, this was amped up to the max with more humiliating demands of a sexual nature. If she didn’t comply she got a shock. This, she was able to resist more, sometimes blacking out from the pain, sometimes vomiting, sometimes both. In the end, her body had rebelled against her and started to do what she was told when she was told to avoid shocks. Her mind was still there, she still knew this was wrong, she still knew that she had to get out but she was physically trapped by the fear of being hurt to a point where she couldn’t move to do much of anything. 

In her mind, when she was alone, she was back on the ship. Back with Ed. Everything was okay again too. Sometimes they were on a date. Sometimes it was just a boring bridge shift. Sometimes they were getting something to eat and joking around with Gordon, Kelly, and Bortus. She let her mind wander and choose a scenario, putting full focus into that until Blake came back into the room to demand she do something horrible again. Each command seemingly more horrible than the last one. At all times she was alert, looking for an opening, trying to find a way out but every little window that opened she managed to be to afraid of the sickening pain to try to squeeze through it. As the days passed she wondered how long it would be until the memories stopped and her mind was replaced with only servitude towards Blake, her new master. _Could they find her in time? Or would the flame that she still managed to hold flicker out before it was too late?_


	14. Implanted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm SO sorry this took so long to update. I got some bad news over the holidays about an illness someone has and ugh...plus you know, holidays. However, I'm back and in the writing spirit again so hopefully you enjoy! 
> 
> Note: This is ultimately an Ed/Alara story however the whole thing with him and Lila is him attempting to get back to normal. Don't worry, it's not actually going to be that way. I figure MOST of you can figure this out but wanted to say it anyway. That's all.

Lila woke up to a loud shout of pain and a bunch of cursing coming from the bathroom. She rubbed her face then made sure her hair was clipped up as tightly as possible before grabbing her robe and hurrying towards the sound. Without thinking she opened the bathroom door, Ed was naked but his back was too her, except he was bleeding. Or at least, blood was running down his legs and he was looking down at something. Part of her was screaming to just back away but the part of her that was a medical professional wanted to help so she wasn't sure what to do. 

"I'm assuming you heard that." He said, his breathing heavy. "You're a doctor right?" 

"Yeah but only in the way that I'm also a psychiatrist and-" 

"But you can...like...help with stuff?" He asked. He didn't seem to care that he was naked and standing there with his ass exposed to her. She was a professional, she'd seen naked men before this wasn't a big deal to her but she wasn't sure how big of a deal it was to him which was why she was hesitating. 

"Depends on how bad it is but..."

"I don't know how bad it is you're going to have to look at it." He said. "How much blood am I losing is that a bad amount?" She looked at the floor. There was blood but not enough that she was overly concerned about him bleeding out. It certainly wasn't gushing everywhere. 

"Superficial, right now." She said, "It's something I can fix easily enough. I have some first aid equipment in my bag." 

"Good." He said and took a deep breath, "You're going to have to come around to the front of me I can't really move it's...very painful. Hence the screaming." 

"Right." She said and hurried around to the front of him. She glanced down to what he was looking at, which wasn't very had since she was quite a bit shorter than him. Her eyes went wide. Something was sticking out of him right above the base of his penis. No wonder he had screamed. She also didn't doubt he'd tried to pull it out himself it was just too painful. Except, she didn't know what it was or if pulling it out would cause more bleeding. She looked up at him. "Alright, I don't know what that is and I don't know if pulling it out might cause more bleeding. Let me get a few things, that way if I get it out and you do gush blood I can seal up the area very quick." 

"Alright...hurry...also bring drugs. Lots of drugs." He whined. She didn't doubt he was in a ton of pain given where his injury was so she wasn't going to deny him what he was asking for. She grabbed her bad of medical equipment quickly and ran back to the bathroom. She got out her scanner and scanned the small object. It was about the size of a bullet from an old fashioned gun. Except, it contained something. Inside there was some sort of chip. Not a tracking chip but something that was storing data. 

"It's not very big." She said, "Which is good so it should be easy for me to get out, but it's in there pretty deep. I'm going to have to do it the old fashioned way with my hands I don't have anything to pull it out remotely so-"

"Just fucking do it, please..." He begged her. She nodded and put a hand on his hip so she could brace herself. She looked up at him as if begging him not to punch her if it hurt too much then put her fingers over the bit of the base that was protruding from him. 

"Deep breath, close your eyes, I'm going to count to three. Brace yourself." She told him. He nodded. She watched him take a deep breath, didn't count to three, and yanked the thing out. He screamed and stumbled back, hit the wall, and ended up landing in the bathtub, hitting his head against the wall behind him. "Shit! SORRY!" 

"You...you didn't count to three." He muttered. 

"I didn't want you to flinch or try to stop me." She said and held up the object in the light. It looked like it could be unscrewed. What was this thing? She frowned and set it on the counter by the sink then hurried over to him. She had a dermal wand that could seal up the hole left there and since it hadn't been disturbing any major arteries (nor had it ruptured or torn anything) all she had to do was heal the wound. He put a hand on her shoulder and she worked quickly to heal him up. He was still in pain though. Mostly from the impact to his head but she could also tell by how tense he was the pain hadn't just stopped from removing the object. 

"Drugs?" 

"Yeah okay okay," She whispered and then grabbed her bag. She grabbed the second injector that had some of the good stuff and measured a nice dose before injecting him. He relaxed almost instantly. She grabbed her scanner and scanned his head. No concussion or anything serious, just a nice smack to the head. 

"What is that thing?" He muttered and put his hand on her arm, "Do you have any idea how sexy that was?" 

"What? Me pulling a...bullet out of your abdomen?" She asked, then saw the dopey look on his face and realized it had to be the painkillers. 

"Doctors are sexy." 

"Right." She said, "You need to get cleaned up." 

"I like your negligee, also...boobs." He grinned. She looked down and realized how much he could see down her nightgown with how she was bent over him. She hadn't closed her robe just pulled it on because she had been in a hurry. She moved back and closed her robe so she was better covered then shoved him into a better position in the tub and started to run the water making sure it was warm. 

"Alright, I'll do this myself." She said, "Aren't you the least bit concerned what that thing is? I mean how did you even...find it?" 

"Hmmm?" He asked and turned to look at her, "That's been a problem for a few days now. Thought it was just a scab or blister or something. That pirate ship wasn't exactly clean and I didn't want to admit that I might have some kind of disease from Blake so I had a wait and see attitude about it. Then I went to see what it was and...here we are." He laughed and put his hand on her cheek. 

"Right." She gently took his wrist and moved his hand away from her face. 

"God, you're gorgeous." He muttered. 

"No, I'm really not." She said and started to clean him up. Luckily he was drugged enough that he wasn't able to get an erection. At least not a full one. He was half-way there but he couldn't maintain it. She couldn't say he wasn't attractive because he definitely was, but she also knew that it wasn't appropriate right now and she was his doctor so she was going to just have to treat him like any other patient until they could be on equal social terms. If that would ever happen. She knew she shouldn't entertain that idea either. 

"But you are..." He muttered then dozed off. Which she was grateful for. She finished cleaning him up and then let the water drain. She grabbed a towel and dried him off before wrapping it around his waist to cover him. 

"Ed, come on. Get up." She said and got to her feet, holding her arm out to him so he could take it. He whined but grabbed her arm and allowed her to help him to his feet. "Go get some rest, I'm going to look at what's in that...thing I pulled out of you." 

"Aye Captain." He replied then lazily saluted her, dropped the towel, wiggled his butt, and headed back to his room, presumably. She covered her mouth and clenched her jaw to keep from laughing. Then she grabbed the small bullet container and rinsed it off before heading to her own room to attempt to figure out what was on the data chip inside. 

> _"I want you to release Ed." Alara said. She had been locked in her cage for nearly two days now. Barely allowed out of it. Not unless Blake wanted to watch Ed 'play' with her. It had been a few days since Gordon and Kelly were released and she was thinking that maybe she had a chance at negotiating Ed's release. He was always around her, but so was Blake. Even if she did think she could attempt to talk him out of the daze he was in, she never got a chance. Not to mention that she'd seen Blake sexually coerce and assault Ed multiple times since Gordon and Kelly had left. If it was to assert his dominance or just because he was obviously getting off on it, she didn't know, but she couldn't take it anymore._
> 
> _"What do you think you have to offer a man who's already won?" Blake asked._
> 
> _"Myself." She said._
> 
> _"You?" He said, "Already have you."_
> 
> _"No, Ed still has me. You haven't taken me once. Not other than to torture or humiliate me. Why is that?" She asked._
> 
> _"More fun this way I suppose. It's nothing against you, I do intend to fuck you eventually but I really haven't grown bored of humiliating you and your captain, or you with your captain so I mean-"_
> 
> _"What if I offer a way for you to humiliate me and him even after he gets back...if you release him?" She asked. Blake set down the data pad he was reading and sat more up from the bed he was resting on. Ed was in a chair in the corner staring blankly, not reacting. Alara knew it was half the emotional stress of the situation and half the drugs he was being fed to keep him complacent._
> 
> _"What exactly did you have in mind?" He asked, his mouth twisting into an evil grin._

Lila had gotten out her own personal computer which was easily able to read the data chip once she'd inserted it. Her door was closed, and she glanced at it periodically. She wasn't sure what was on here other than what looked like a video file. It wasn't titled, but it seemed to be 30 minutes in duration. She made sure the volume was lowered before starting to play it. 

The scene opened on the bridge of some sort of pirate ship. Probably the one that Ed had been on, the one where Alara was still being kept. She immediately paused it and analyzed what she could to the best of her ability. Whoever had made this, edited it, had done their job well. She couldn't read any star charts or location. Not that it mattered too much because this would have been nearly a week ago and they'd have been far away from that point. Still, it would at least be helpful in tracking them as it would give them some location point to start at, and in a very uncharted area of space. She shook her head and resumed watching the video. 

The doors to the bridge opened and Alara was there, on a leash and naked. Behind her stood an immaculately dressed but sinister looking man, leather, chains, earrings, everything you'd think a pirate would look like. That had to be Blake. Next to him was Ed in his standard Captain's uniform for the Planetary Union. Blake shoved her forward and she started to walk without any complaint. Ed walked right beside Blake in perfect step. His eyes glossy and unblinking. She questioned how much he was even seeing in that moment, or at very least processing. He looked drugged to the gills with...something. She was going to have to go through his medical reports and see what they found in his blood. That was if anyone had even gotten close enough to do any sort of tests. It didn't seem like he was very willing to do that from what Kelly had said. 

Blake took a seat in the captain's chair. There wasn't any other bridge crew to be seen but they weren't necessarily needed all the time. Blake didn't exactly have a reason to be in a huge hurry by that point considering this was shortly after they had crossed into uncharted space. A borderland that laws of the Planetary Union couldn't touch. Alara knelt down in front of him, her back towards Blake. Ed stepped in front of her. She looked up at him and a shaky hand came up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Ed backhanded her roughly, Lila winced and paused the video. Well, that explained a hell of a lot. She wasn't sure she wanted to watch more of this, or even should. It was obvious it was going to lead into something sexual. She'd have to talk to Ed first. It was the right thing to do. She just didn't know how she was going to get any sleep now. Knowing what she had. She got up and replicated herself a very strong drink. It was going to be a long night. 

> _"You think anyone's seen it yet?" Blake asked. Alara looked up from her spot on the bed. Her mind so warped and twisted over the events of the past week she didn't even remember making the video, let alone implanting it into Ed for it to be found later._
> 
> _"Huh?" She asked._
> 
> _"The video you stupid bitch." He said, "You think they've found it?" She blinked a few times and it came back to her. The offer she'd made. What she had done to get Ed out of there. It had been a huge gamble but she'd gotten away with it. Though she was aware that nothing on that video would get Ed charged with an actual crime considering the massive amounts of obvious coercion, brainwashing, and torture, there was no way anyone who saw it wouldn't be deeply disturbed by the contents. Blake had been extremely aroused at the idea. She too knew he was aware it wouldn't condemn Ed to prison but it would definitely destroy his reputation. The intent had been that when he was medically examined upon his release that it would be found. It was weird enough but not dangerous. The doctor at the union would watch it and be forced to pass it onto a superior. However, neither of them had predicted that Ed would be so damn violent and dangerous about everything once he got back that no one even dared get near him to do an examination._
> 
> _There was something else on that video. Something that Blake hadn't even seemed to catch onto. While on the bridge (and it had been her idea to film it there) just to show how much power Blake had over the both of them, she'd gotten a look at their location. She'd been able to encode a message, in a very outdated system known as Morse code. She'd learned it a while back. Half due to boredom and half due to the fact that she knew it was sometimes, very rarely used in extreme situations. It was so ancient as a system that many people didn't even recognize that it was an actual language. What she did know was that people like Ed and Gordon were into older things like that. Even though she didn't know for sure, she was willing to bet one of them would recognize it as it was. She had timed her gasps and moans during the video to give a brief message. Identify their location. The only problem was Ed or Gordon would have to see the video and now she was regretting all of this. He must have noticed the look on her face at the realization that this had been a terrible idea because he was grinning. He grabbed her leash and yanked her forward so she was on top of him._
> 
> _"Oh, I'm going to enjoy fucking you tonight. All night." He growled in her ear._

When Ed did wake up the first thing he did was go into Lila's room. Thanks to the drugs he had been given he barely remembered what had happened the night before. Something about an implant in his abdomen, lower abdomen. Lila taking it out, giving him painkillers, cleaning him up. Vague memories of trying to flirt with her badly. Something about the implant, or whatever it was, containing a data chip. He felt bad about his behavior but he also wanted to know what was on the data chip as he currently had no actual memory of it, and the drugs were so nice they gave him good dreams for once. 

"Look Lila, I'm really sorry about-" He paused when he saw her face, she was on the bed and she looked white as a ghost. Not to mention nauseated, terrified, upset...the exact opposite of how anyone would want to see the psychiatrist that was currently treating them. "Woah okay...Lila I wouldn't have actually-" 

"No Ed that's...it's fine." She said, "Your flirting as bad as it is, is kind of endearing. I'm not upset about that." 

"I'm not bad at flirting." He said then pouted, but after that he realized what she said. She wasn't upset about that, so it meant she was upset about something else. Then he noticed that she had her computer on her bed as well. It wasn't currently on but he put two and two together and realized that whatever this was, it had to be about whatever was on the data chip. He took a few steps towards the bed. 

"What was on it?" He asked, motioning to the computer, "It's about that, isn't it?" 

"Yes." She nodded and finished her drink. It was the third one and she was sufficiently buzzed. Not drunk but close. She stood up and swayed for a moment before walking out of there. He watched her and followed close behind trying not to look at her ass or legs as she walked. This was serious and he needed to pay attention. 

"So what was on it?" he repeated. She continued to ignore him and replicated a hot cup of coffee. She'd been alternating all night between booze and caffeine to keep herself from freaking out. He'd needed the rest and she had to let it happen. Besides, she'd had to take time to figure out how to explain all of this to him. Of course, he had no way of knowing this so he was just looking at her confused and panicked. 

"A video." She said and took a sip of coffee, "You, Alara, and I assume the man known as Blake." Ed couldn't remember any of the actual video that had been sent. He certainly did remember the severely edited out of context video that the crew had been shown. Well, bits and pieces. His memory was pretty good until the events transpiring after that moment. That's when a lot of it was black, fragmented, or just completely gone. 

"Okay let me explain, that video is completely out of context. She had to kill those people she had no choice, and let me tell you all that sex stuff was-" 

"What?" Lila asked. 

"The video..." He said, "I'm assuming that's what's on it." 

"I didn't watch it yet but I don't think anyone was going to...kill what people?" Lila asked. Ed took in a shaky breath and went to the replicator to get himself a shot of tequila. Once he had downed it, he turned to look at her. 

"Okay, probably not the video I'm talking about then. Actually, I don't fucking know because you didn't watch it yet." He said. "Or you watched some of it, you know it's a video...so...something is going on here. What the fuck is it, Lila?" 

"I watched enough to establish what may or may not be going on in it. Yes, that's what I meant...I mean I didn't watch all of it I stopped it when...I figured out why you are triggered by the hair thing." She said. 

"How much of the video was that?" He asked, coming towards her. 

"About sixty seconds but the duration is listed as thirty minutes." She said seriously and sipped more of her coffee. 

"Are you drunk?" 

"Kind of." She muttered into her mug. 

"What was so awful in those 60 seconds that you felt you needed to drink all night?" he asked then replicated another shot of tequila. 

"HEY STOP IT!" She yelled at him, "Both of us being drunk isn't going to fucking fix this." 

"Oh you try and stop me." He growled. She set her coffee down and stormed over to him slapping the second shot out of his hand. He snarled and grabbed her wrist tightly. Her other hand came up and slapped him roughly. He slapped her back. She screamed and lunged at him knocking him off of his feet and tackling him to the floor. The both struggled with each other for a long moment. She was a lot stronger than she looked, though it may have just been the booze induced rage. He couldn't tell. Finally he was able to pin her down, breathing hard he stared at her as she gazed up at him from the floor. There was silence, heavy breathing, and suddenly they were kissing. Passionately at that. His arms around her, his body pressing and grinding against her desperately and she was returning it. Her hands moving down to his boxers to try to get to his cock. She gripped it firmly and started to stroke him. The kiss hadn't broken yet, but then her hand slipped and he hissed in pain. Still sensitive from where the implant was removed the night before. They both pulled back. He scrambled away from her and sat on the floor with his back against the wall, still aroused but thankfully covered by his boxers. 

"Did that just happen?" She whispered. 

"Yeah..." He muttered. 

"I apologize that was very unprofessional and-" 

"Don't..." He whispered, "I needed it. Kind of made me feel normal. Like maybe I'm not the horrible rapist that Blake tried to make me into." She nodded and swallowed hard. 

"We can't continue that, not right now." She whispered and rubbed her eyes before getting fully to her feet. "We need to talk about that video." 

"What was on it, Lila?" He asked, looking up at her but still not getting to his feet. "What happened in 60 seconds that got you all drunk and...well at least willing to fuck me. Wait is that the booze or you actually want-" 

"I think you are very attractive and it's wrong, but trust me it was not the booze I'm not drunk I'm buzzed. If that wasn't something I wanted I would have ripped your dick off. You were not raping me, okay? So now that we've moved past that...I'll explain." She said quickly. 

"Good." He said and motioned with his hand like he wanted her to continue. 

"Right..." She said and bit her bottom lip for a moment. "Like I said it was you, Alara, and Blake. On the bridge of what I assume was his ship. She was naked and on a leash. You were in your Captain's uniform. He looked exactly how you'd think a pirate captain would look with all the leather and chains and shit. He sat in the captain's chair and she knelt down in front of him. You came around in front of her. She looked up at her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. I'd have to see more but I think it was a nervous tic she had. Something she was probably doing to keep herself calm. Blake somehow used that to trigger you into attacking her because you hit her and-" 

"Look at her...she's weak..." Ed muttered. 

"What?" Lila asked. 

"He would say that. He would tell me that any time she'd do that. Every single damn time. I...I dreamed about it or remembered it or...fuck I don't know but I didn't put it together." He said looking away from her and shaking his head. "I was on a lot of drugs and quite frankly I wasn't complaining. The drugs took me away from there. To some place where I wasn't so...awful." 

"I don't blame you." She said and reached down to take his hand. He reached up and grabbed it then pulled himself to his feet. 

"You stopped it there then?" He asked. She nodded. "But why? Why would they send anything like this back? For what purpose? And why implant it in me in such an asinine manner?" 

"I don't know." She said, "Do you...want to watch it? It's okay if you don't but I'm going to have to highly suggest that if you do, we watch it together." Ed clenched his jaw and started to pace back and fourth. She watched him for a long moment before finally he headed down the hall. She followed after him and saw him enter her room and sit on the bed. 

"Let's get this over with." 

"Ed-" 

"Fucking do it, now, before I lose my nerve. I don't remember any of this and I'd like to." He said, "Even if it's terrible I want this memory and I want to know what I did to her when I was blacked out." 

"Alright..." Lila said and came over to the bed. She started her computer again and looked over at him. "If you need me to stop it, at any time, so we can talk...you tell me. Okay?" 

"Just play the damn video, Lila..." He grumbled. She nodded and turned her computer on. She really hoped this didn't end up being a mistake but she didn't think it was right to deny him the chance to see the video. She just hoped that it wasn't going to be a huge mistake. 


	15. One Breath Away

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some pretty messed up stuff in this chapter. Also Gordon/Ed friendship stuff. Enjoy!

[Another chapter somewhat inspired by another song. Enjoy the mood music.]

* * *

Lila started the video even if she was pretty sure it would end up being a mistake. Not only for herself but for Ed as well. What was she doing? In what universe was it okay to watch a rape video with the man who starred in it? Obviously, she knew he hasn't done it willingly but did that still make it okay? Would it benefit his recovery process to have her watch this, or would it ultimately just be far more detrimental? She didn't have the answer because this was by far the most challenging and high profile case she'd taken in her short career. She may have been young but she wasn't uneducated. A person could easily learn a lot by her age. However, most would not consider her age of thirty-six years to be equipped enough to handle this. In her zealous to prove herself, she knew she had to keep pushing. If she fixed Ed them there was no telling where she could go next.

It wasn't just about that, though. She did care about him. What happened to him. How he recovered. If he could recover. She wouldn't have been taking all of these risks if she didn't also care about him as a person. It was complicated and she knew that after this she'd have to have a sufficient amount of therapy herself.

The video started from the beginning and she kept glancing at Ed every few seconds to see how he was doing. She was prepared to sedate him at any moment that she might need to. After the face slap he was commanded to "take that bitch" and show her who her true Master was. Lila didn't really understand this concept only because Blake seemed to be the true Master here but she also knew she lacked a lot of information and would have to get it from Ed. The files she had been allowed access to in order to study didn't have near as much as she needed to understand the entire situation.

The video played on and Ed did as he was commanded. He grabbed Alara and violently threw her over the piloting console. Alara was Xelayan so the fact that she was putting up no resistance to this was quite alarming. Ed moved behind her and shifted a bit. The shot remained from behind until he penetrated her. Then it moved to the side and captured both of them. More so Alara's face than Ed. He could be seen in the shot too and very clearly at that but Alara was there focal point. Given that it was probably Blake or some other man on the crew editing this she wasn't surprised that focal point was more on the female.

Almost immediately Alara was gasping and moaning. Ed commanded the computer to pause the video. Lila looked over at him and his head turned towards her a moment later. He looked not only haunted but sick to his stomach.

"I'm not...I don't...I can't remember doing anything like this nor can I explain why I would do this but I don't deny that's me and it most definitely is Alara and Blake." He said. It seemed like he was going to attempt to start that sentence by telling her he wasn't a rapist but decided against it. She didn't see him as a rapist so either he knew that or he assumed that trying to deny it would just make him sound worse. It was hard to tell.

"If you want I can have this analyzed to see if it's simulated or-"

"It's not. I mean if it makes you feel better to check be my guest but you'll find that it isn't. It's far too on point to be a simulation or simulated. I may not remember this but I can feel it... almost smell and taste it. It's painfully real."

"We can stop here if-"

"No. If I don't watch it all at once I'll never let myself go back to it and I need to know. Let's do it. Please?" He asked. She nodded and commanded that the video resume.

As it played, Ed continued to fuck into Alara as she moaned and gasped loudly. As if this was the most pleasurable thing in the world. Lila attempted to just tune it out. She would keep everything playing as long as it was okay with Ed. There was a good ten minutes of this before Ed pulled back out of her and threw her to the floor. Beside her, he winced but to his credit, he never stopped watching.

"Get that dirty whore's mouth on your cock," Blake told him. It seemed that Ed was at his very command with this. Even down to when he could orgasm or not. Lila wad horrified and yet couldn't look away. It took not only incredible control to do that but stamina on Ed's part. She glanced over at him slowly.

"What?" He growled but didn't look at her.

"Nothing just...making sure you're okay." She said softly. It was mostly that but it was mixed with her absolute shock that Blake has that much command over him and he had that much command over his own body. No wonder they were held for so long, Ed was one hell of a powerful and strong-willed man. Physically and mentally. It was impressive but heartbreaking all the same.

"Oh I'm just peachy." He hissed through a tightly clenched jaw. She nodded and went back to watching. Ed now had his cock almost entirely down Alara's throat. She was gagging but not resisting. Ed was just calmly and methodically fucking in and out of there. He'd give her ample time to breathe but he wasn't letting up either. "Wait... Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"Something is off about this. Computer go back five minutes." Ed said.

"Ed..."

"Shhhh." He hushed her. She didn't have the first clue what he was doing it noticing but he seemed focused and pulled out of his previously angered state. Not that his anger wasn't justified but the last thing she needed was another powder keg situation with this man. He watched the moaning and gasping obnoxiously loud sex scene again. He pushed the video back further and watched it from the start. Lila got up and started to pace nervously.

"What is the point of all this?" She asked trying to stay calm even though this entire thing was severely grating on her last nerve and threatening to shred her sanity into bits and pieces.

"Listen..." He pushed the visit back again to where he first started fucking Alara. "Computer, isolate Lt. Kitan's vocal pattern."

"Command not recognized."

"My computer doesn't know which one is Alara," Lila said but she got the jest of what he wanted so she tried another command. "Computer, isolate the vocal patterns of the Xelayan female." About five seconds later the video skipped back to where it has started but all that could hear was Alara's gasps and moans. Ed watched the screen intently as if searching for a clue. Lila had no idea what the could possibly be doing.

"What she's doing here isn't random is some kind of pattern, a code," Ed said after a moment.

"Ed, I know this is hard for you but the chances of that seem to be pretty-"

"Computer, analyze vocals for a pattern." Ed cut her off quickly. Lila didn't think this would really solve anything but she felt maybe he had to work out for himself that he was chasing shadows.

"Pattern detected. Playing back in single note arrangement."

"Holy shit..." Lila breathed. The computer played it back and in one note intervals, she could definitely hear the pattern herself. She'd have never caught this on her own in a million years either. That's probably why he had become Captain of a starship and she hadn't.

"Told you. Way to go Alara!" Ed said looking happier than he had in days. "Computer analyze entire video."

"Working."

"Look, there's no denying there's a pattern here but what it means and how to decipher it is another thing entirely." Lila pointed out.

"I realize that but I found the code which means I just know it somehow. It would be something she'd think I'd know because, and I don't know how I know this but she'd know I would eventually be watching. Even if I didn't know maybe someone else like... Gordon." He said getting very excited about all of this.

"Ed are you sure that you want your crew to see,"

"They don't have to see anything I just have to send them those tones." He said.

"Audio file complete." The computer told him.

"Copy and transfer audio and video file to home computer," Ed said.

"Ed before I let you continue I need you to fully understand that all of this could mean nothing and just be a coincidence," Lila warned. She didn't think it was, not anymore, but it was still a possibility and she didn't want Ed to get his hopes up.

"Yeah yeah." He said and wanted his hand dismissively. He got up and she followed after him into his bedroom. He went to his own computer and called Gordon. After a moment it picked up. A shirtless Gordon was on the other screen relaxing in a recliner, wasting popcorn and watching a movie.

"Sup Ed? Been awhile. Kelly said you were basically catatonic and that seemed like it would make a boring phone call so I-" his rambling cut off when he turned to look at the screen and saw Lila there next to him. "Holy crap warn me when you have a hot chick over."

"You do know I can see and hear you right? Anyway, I'm not a hot chick I'm-"

"She's my psychiatrist." Ed interrupted when he realized Lila want legally allowed to disclose that information and he would have to do it to cut question time down.

"Why can't she be both?" Gordon asked as he scrambled to get his shirt on. "You banging her already? Good work."

"Does he know I'm still here?" Lila asked.

"Yeah he just doesn't care," Ed said. "Gordon I'm not banging her. I need you to listen to something and tell me if it's familiar. It might help find Alara."

"Alright." He said and paused the movie he was watching. Ed commanded the audio file to play. The short and long tones rang off for about thirty seconds before Gordon's eyes went from squinty and confused wide and enlightened. "Morse code. That's definitely Morse code."

"Of course!" Ed said. He didn't have a clue as to when Alara would have picked that up but thank God she had.

"What kind of code?" Lila asked.

"Really outdated. Mostly used in the centuries before they even had phones to send information. Dot and dash system. The longer tones are the dashes." Gordon explained. He reached over and grabbed a near datapad. "I think I know it well enough I can translate. Play it back. From the start, Ed."

"I knew one day your eclectic knowledge of ancient technology would be useful." Ed laughed.

"Yeah well, when you can't get dates while in the academy you have a lot of time on your hands to learn..." Gordon paused and looked at Lila, "I mean not me like I mean people in general as an example."

"Gordon all I care about is that you know how to translate it. Besides, I wasn't that much of a social butterfly either. It's fine." Lila reassured him. He nodded and glanced at Ed.

"Alright, playing it from the start," Ed told him and started the recording over. Gordon got busy working to translate the message. Ed could really only hope that it didn't say anything too incriminating but it wasn't as if Gordon didn't already know enough of what went on himself.

When it was over, Gordon looked at what he had for a long moment. Ed started to get visibly antsy and Lila was getting ready to sedate him if she had to. She had her hand on the injector in her robe pocket.

"This is definitely a location. It's also not in the charted area of space. These numbers are borderland. There's more than that though." Gordon said and looked up. "You want me to read it in front of her?"

"Yes, Gordon I don't care. She's already seen the worst of me. Can't get much worse." Ed snapped. Gordon nodded and looked back down at her written.

"You aren't a rapist. You aren't a monster. I forgive you Ed Mercury." Gordon read back, "Uh sorry that was her mistake, not mine I just wrote what letters she gave me. Ed?"

At that moment Ed wasn't sure what to think. How to feel. He'd just gone completely numb. It was too much. Part of him had been hoping that by the point this video had been made that Alara would have already been gone. Unaware. Yet part of him was elated that she still had the presence of mind to plan this. Enough coherency to figure out a code that wasn't easily detected and bet on the fact that someone on his crew (or him) would figure it out. On top of all of that, not only did she give a location but she gave him a message he needed more than anything in that moment. He was pretty sure he was in love with her even if that was a dumb thing to conclude from this scenario which he was also aware of.

"Ed," he heard Lila's voice next to him. His brain interpreted it as her being concerned. He blinked and felt a few years run down his face which he quickly wiped away. He sniffed a few times and looked at her.

"Oh thank God. Thought he had a stroke." He heard Gordon say.

"I'm fine. I'm going to kill Blake though." Ed replied.

"Might not want to say that in front of a Union doc." Gordon reminded him and pointed at Lila.

"I'm not Union. The Union wouldn't touch him. They wanted to lock him up in a padded room and throw away the key. Luckily I heard some buzz about this situation and volunteered." Lila said.

"Oh. Wait does that means you are free to bang Union officers?"

"Gordon!" Ed snapped.

"Okay okay. Where did you get this file anyway?" Gordon quickly changed the subject.

"Long story. Rather explain it in person." Ed said. "Can he come over?" She looked at Lila. She nodded but didn't say aloud that she was only agreeing because he wasn't a danger to other men. Besides, it was a good sign that he wanted to socialize and she didn't want to interrupt that level of progress.

"I'll be over ASAP. Should I pass this message to the Union investigation?" Gordon asked.

"No! Absolutely not! You'll understand why when you get here and I explain it to you. Okay?" Ed insisted.

"Right. See you soon then." Gordon said and ended the connection. Ed turned to look at Lila.

"I'm a private contractor. I am under no obligation to tell the Union anything." She said. "It would break confidentiality. Don't want to lose my position."

"Thanks for being so cool. Also putting up with what Gordon thinks is flirting I guess. He's not a creep just very-"

"I don't think he's a creep, I kind of find that level of honesty and innocence charming." She laughed. Ed made a face then shook his head and stood up.

"I'm going to get cleaned up. Entertain Gordon if he gets here before I'm out of the shower." Ed told her and headed into his bathroom. She watched him for a moment, then sighed. She had a feeling she was about to get into a situation of serious lawbreaking with these two but she also didn't want to stop it. If anything she was kind of looking forward to finally having an adventure. 

* * *

 

She barely had time to get dressed, before Gordon showed up and let himself right in. She wasn't surprised given the fact that Ed seemed to be very close friends with him. She came out of her room with her hair still up, having made sure it was as clipped back as possible after that little encounter with him. After looking in the mirror upon going into the bathroom she could definitely see why Gordon thought they were fucking. Her hair had been ruffed up, so had her clothes, after that weird kissing and groping session. She hadn't even tried to make herself look presentable because she hadn't thought she would need too. Everything happened so fast after that point. Now she looked far more presentable. 

"Oh uh...hi. Usually just let myself in. Want a beer?" He asked, holding up a six-pack that he'd brought with him. 

"It's like, 8 in the morning." She said. 

"And?" He replied then walked over to the table and set the six pack down. "Where's Ed?" 

"He'll be out in a minute I'm sure." She said, "So you're Gordon Malloy, right?" 

"Yeah." He nodded and sat on the couch. She sat on the chair across from him and crossed her legs. There was something charming about him even though there was also something kind of offensive about him as well. She didn't know what it was. Usually, people were not so refreshingly honest with no sense of a verbal filter. At least not around her and especially not in therapy. He just didn't seem to care and she liked that side of him. 

"How's he doing? I mean...can you tell me anything or...confidentiality?" He asked. 

"He's doing better but that's all I can say without his permission." She said. Even that was a bit too much but since he already knew she was his psychiatrist and why he was seeing one it wasn't too unethical to at least say he was doing fine. Ed came out from his room drying his hair with a towel he looked at Gordon. 

"You're here. That was quick." He said. 

"Yeah well, I wanted to know where you got that audio file and you wouldn't tell until I got here." He replied. Ed sat down next to him and then looked at Lila. Gordon did as well. 

"I'm going to have to request I stay here while you do this," Lila said. "Urgently request it." 

"I'm actually fine with it, just...are you, Gordon?" Ed asked. 

"I don't care, man. She's your therapist." Gordon shrugged. Ed nodded and took a deep breath then sat back. It was very weird seeing him cleaned up, shaved, and in normal clothing. He looked miles better than when she'd first arrived and he was in his robe not smelling too pleasant. This was a lot of progress in a short period of time and she was preparing for a crash at some point but even when that did happen it would only be a minor setback. He needed moments like this and it was good that he was having them. 

"The audio file was from...a video that was implanted in me," Ed said. 

"Come again?" Gordon asked. "What does half of that even mean?" 

"Last night I found a piece of metal inside of me, kind of in my abdomen. It was stuck there. I don't remember when it was put there, who did it, or why but it was there. Must have happened on Blake's ship. Inside of this thing...like a capsule, there was a data chip that had a video." He explained. 

"What was on the video?" Gordon asked. Ed looked at Lila like he wanted her help. 

"Do I have your permission to tell him?" She asked. 

"You have my full consent to tell him anything he wants to know about any part of this treatment. All of it. Just...do it for me." Ed insisted. Lila nodded, verbal consent was as good as any and Gordon was a witness to that so she was okay with it now. She looked at Gordon, but before she could speak Ed got up and grabbed a beer. 

"The video file was a...it was of Ed being coerced into doing sexual things with Alara against her will." She said phrasing it as nicely as she possibly could. 

"Oh dude you have to get rid of that thing I mean like now. Are there any copies left? Destroy that shit." Gordon said quickly. Then he turned to look at Lila. "Wait you aren't going to-"

"I can't show it to anyone it would break his confidentiality. Potentially now that you know you could do it but-" 

"Fuck that. You need to delete it, Ed." Gordon said. 

"I know, I know, just not yet. I'm wondering if there's more information on it we can pull." He said. "Which is why I brought you in. I didn't want to say too much before because there's a small chance our conversations could be monitored. I doubt it now, since no one has contacted me about the other file I sent but it's still too risky." 

"You want me to watch it?" He asked. 

"Not necessarily just...I need you here in case you can help." Ed insisted. 

"Well, I'm not going to watch that unless I absolutely have to. At least it explains the last part of the message." Gordon said and turned back to face Ed. "Can you hand me a beer?" 

"Should you really be drinking after-" 

"You wanna bring that up in front of her, dude?" 

"She's a psychiatrist, and she saw that video do you really think she's going to care what you did on the ship?" Ed asked. 

"Point taken, but she doesn't have to keep my information confidential," Gordon said. 

"He's right about that but I will keep it confidential if you ask me to. You do know I'm a human being who understands feelings and how to keep secrets right?" Lila interrupted. Gordon looked at her and Ed headed over to the couch holding out a beer. Gordon took it and opened it. 

"Right so, what he's referring to is how I got super drunk for my last week or so on the ship." Gordon explained, "But there was a reason for it. Can you blame me? I'd been through hell man and he was offering me unlimited booze as long as I flew his ship semi-decently. It was better than being tortured and...other stuff." 

"Other stuff? What other stuff?" Ed asked. 

"I really would prefer not to get into this," Gordon said. 

"Why?" Ed asked, "Whatever you did couldn't be any worse than what I've done to Alara or anyone else on the crew for that matter. You damn well know I was the reason people had to fight to the death. Did you kill anyone Gordon?" 

"No but...I may have been forced into similar type things with certain female crew members along the lines of what you might have done to Alara once or twice." He said looking away from Ed before starting to chug his beer. Ed sat there completely motionless for a moment. Lila saw him tense up completely, like he had been when she'd arrived the first day. The very wound up and ready to pounce Ed Mercer. She got up quickly and walked over to him. He grabbed her arm tightly and pinned it to her side. Luckily, in his other hand was a beer and he didn't let go of it before she was able to inject a sedative into his neck. He instantly relaxed enough that the beer started to slip out of his hand. He released her and she grabbed it before it could fall to the floor. 

"Kelly..." He muttered. Gordon just looked at Lila completely stunned like she was some type of superhero. 

"Was he going to attack me?" Gordon asked. 

"I don't know but he was going to do something violent." Lila said, "Ed...are you okay?" 

"I wasn't...I don't think I was going to do that." He said then rubbed his eyes, "I don't know, everything kind of just went hazy for a moment." Lila shook her head. 

"I take it you didn't know about this?" She asked. 

"No." He muttered. "I'm not upset with him. I know it doesn't appear that way but...Gordon I'm not upset with you. I'm upset that it happened and that I let things get that far. That I got us all into this situation in the first place. I don't know what I was just about to do, right now but I don't think it was...aimed at either of you two." 

"Ed look, it only happened twice. Seriously. He got bored because after the first time she just kind of let it happen." Gordon said, "It's nothing I wanted to do but he has those drugs that-" 

"Yeah, I know." Ed snapped quickly even though there was little force behind his voice as angry as he sounded. 

"Neither of us are saints here and I don't think any less of you for what happened, what I saw happened, that video that Kelly said was completely out of context, or any of that shit. None of us had a choice. We all fought back as hard as we could and we all lost. Together. It wasn't anyone's-" 

"I'm the fucking Captain, Gordon." 

"And I'm your best friend and on your crew." He said, "We all lost. ALL of us. It wasn't just on you, or me, or Alara, we all were defeated. I hate to say it but we knew there were risks to being on a starship. Every one of us takes those risks every day, it's part of the job. Yeah, pirates are really fucking obscure and outdated but we knew there was a potential for an attack like that, them, or the Krill. I've been stabbed for you man. If that didn't get me to quit, this won't. We're still friends, no matter what, okay?" 

"I can't promise the same with Kelly." He sighed. 

"We already talked, well before now it's...it is what it is." Gordon said, "She doesn't seem to hold it against me but you know...women." 

"You got that right." Ed laughed halfheartedly. It wasn't exactly the best time for a joke but they were both trying to lighten the mood a bit so Lila just took a deep breath, stepped back and sat down again. Her arm ached where she'd been grabbed but she knew better than to complain about it as the situation could have been a lot worse. 

"So where do we go from here?" Gordon asked then glanced at Lila, "You're really not going to tell anyone that?" 

"There's no reason to." Lila said, "If it's not in her report, or yours, then no one deemed it necessary and I'm not the one to make a judgment call on things I don't know anything about." Gordon nodded. 

"If you want me to help analyze that video so you don't have to go through that again, I will." Gordon said. "I'm just going to need a lot more booze, or narcotics, does she have a license to-" 

"Yes but I don't think you're getting any." Ed chuckled. 

"Oh come on!" Gordon whined, "Please?" He looked at Lila. 

"The most I can give you in good conscience is a sedative, like I just gave him, and only if you actually need it." Lila told him. 

"I'm not going to bullshit you, lady, if I have to watch that video, I'm going to need it." He said. He chugged down more of his beer and then stood up. "Let's get to it. Ed, you stay here. We can watch in shifts I suppose or I'll just do it. Lila will help right?" 

"Yeah. Whatever it takes. He's right, Ed just...get some rest okay?" Lila asked, "Do you need anything before we...go do this?" Ed shook his head. 

"No, just let me lay here and think. I'll be fine." He sighed. Lila stood up and motioned for Gordon to follow her. He stopped to turn and look at Ed as he entered the hallway that would lead to the bedrooms. 

"We're going to get her back. Don't ever doubt that." Gordon said and headed down the hall. Lila soon followed. Ed watched them go, the drugs rushing through his system too nicely for him to respond. Instead, he started to drift off into a nice, calm, relaxing doze. It wouldn't last very long, though. 

 


	16. Our Solemn Hour

When Ed next woke up he wasn't sure how much time had passed. He did know that he smelled second-hand smoke, something he hand smelled since he was on the pirate ship with Blake. Cigarettes weren't unheard of but they were definitely an archaic method of tobacco ingestion. Even that was rare but people still did it despite the health risks. Society still had its drugs, vices, and problems. The smell was faint so if someone was smoking it wasn't actually in his apartment. He looked over to the balcony and saw Lila it there with a cigarette. She looked like a nervous wreck. He got up and walked to the balcony door still dazed. The sedative had mostly worn off but not entirely. He was still calm. He opened the door and the immediately turned towards him, hiding the cigarette behind her back.

"Ed," she said softly then coughed out some smoke and looked away from him as she finished the exhale.

"Look, I don't care if you smoke as long as you do it out here. Is just kind of-"

"I know. Old fashioned. I'm kind of quirky like that. Also stupid. But your replicator had the formula already in there so I got a bit too tempted." She said.

"Weird because I don't smoke. Might have been a guest or just Gordon because he thinks it's funny. You okay? No offense but up look how I felt the first day I got back." He leaned against the railing and studied her. She took another drag from her cigarette. A slow, long, drag.

"I've been watching that video with Gordon. Repeatedly. Had to sedate him. I mean like really. He wasn't faking. Even attacked me when I moved in to do it. Think he's just as hell-bent on getting revenge as you are." She said.

"What about you? You said revenge wouldn't make me feel better so-"

"Well that's a crock of shit I have to say for most scenarios and it usually is true. In your case, I say go for it." She took one last drag of her cigarette and sniffed it out before putting it in the small waste disposal unit on his balcony.

"This is a trap right?" He asked. She shook her head. "You aren't wrong though. About what you said. Killing a murderer doesn't change the number of murderers. If I stopped to his level on purpose how am I any better than him?"

"Tell me. Do you think a man like Blake can be rehabilitated? Do think a man like Blake would truly hate prison? He'd not only become King in a place like that but he'd make his own Paradise. Hell, it wouldn't be very long until he formed an army of morons to escape. Do you think that man understands that type of punishment? Do you think he cares what people call him? He's a fucking pirate. The only thing that man will ever understand is pain, humiliation, and torture." She explained hey anger clearly riding more and more as she spoke. Ed saw a tear run down her cheek but she wiped it away moments later. In all of this, he didn't stop to think about what seeing and knowing all of this might do to an innocent party even if she were also a trained professional.

"Lila, maybe you should-,"

"I'm not quitting. I'm not requesting reassignment. I don't need a break. I'm going to help you get that son of a bitch myself." She growled keeping her voice low.

Ed didn't want to face the fact that she had a damn good point about Blake. He especially didn't want to face it given his position (or former position) in an organization like the Planetary Union. Torture, as well as cruel and unusual punishment, were positively forbidden by their laws. For good reason. He even understood why and he'd never had any urge to violate any of that until right now. He doubted that she had either. Expect Blake wouldn't ever understand or learn from the nice humane little prison the Union would most definitely send him to. It would nearly be a reward. The only way for him to learn any type of lesson was what she was suggesting and ultimately was it not justified even if just this once?

He followed Lila back into his apartment. Gordon was in the kitchen eating a bowl of cereal. He looked over at them when they came in. Even though it had only been a few hours at most he suddenly looked like he hadn't slept in days. Then again, watching a video like that probably removed years from all of their life spans. Ed sat on the couch and took a deep breath. 

"So the important thing here is we have a location." Gordon said, "There's nothing else on that data chip and I'm not watching it again, neither are you. We searched it Ed. The coordinates are enough. I looked them up. At any time do you remember the ship being stopped, at an outpost or something?" 

"I still don't remember filming that specific video, so...wait what else is in it?" 

"You don't want to know," Lila said. 

"I think I kind of do." Ed insisted. 

"The coordinates are very close to an outpost. The whole area may be out of jurisdiction to the Planetary Union but there are ways to see certain things." Gordon said, "Chances are if they were stopped there they were trying to resupply and they may be regulars. We go there, we act like pirates and we find them." 

"We?" Ed asked, "Also this distraction thing isn't going to work I want to know what's on that video." 

"Ed," Lila said, "I'll go over it with you in a bit, in private. Gordon, I need to hear this plan you have of us all getting there." 

"You?" He asked. 

"You think I'm not coming?" She asked. 

"Uh well, first of all, I didn't think you'd want to, secondly, you aren't exactly trained to fight people....right?" He asked. 

"I do want to come." She said, "I also may be able to get you access to a private ship. It's just gonna suck to travel that long in something that small to actually get there and hope we don't get stopped at some point." 

"A private ship...you?" Ed asked. 

"I may have convinced some people that it was necessary for me to have my own ship to travel back and fourth between here and Mars and it should be well stocked with decent accommodations in the event I had to travel with a patient. I work with high profile people they bought into it." She said. 

"Looks like we got ourselves a rule breaker. She'd do well on The Orville." Gordon said. 

"Don't get ahead of yourself." Ed told him, "Could you fly something like she's talking about?" 

"If she can fly it, I certainly can. No offense Lila, just those types of luxury ships aren't built in a complicated manner." Gordon said, "I'd probably have to reconfigure some things to make it faster." 

"How soon can you get us to this ship?" Ed asked her. 

"Okay everyone slow down." Lila stopped them. "As much as I want to do this, and I do, I'm very unsure Ed of all people is ready for it. Even if he was, or when he is, or whatever, that's the plan? The ship won't have any weapons, we are going into basically criminal space, and it's a luxury ship. How quickly do you think we are going to get jacked for it?" 

"We can get weapons," Ed said. "Just not until we get into that area of space." 

"Think they are currency based out there, though," Gordon said. 

"Then we'll replicate some," Ed said. 

"Good point." Gordon shrugged. 

"Stop it! This is a very bad idea." Lila said, "I mean...it's really bad. Gordon, can you even modify a ship like that?" 

"Yeah, I mean not legally but I can do it." He said. 

"Considering this entire plan isn't legal I suppose that's the least of my concerns," Lila muttered and took a seat. 

"Gordon, can you excuse us for a moment?" Ed asked. Gordon nodded but just stayed there eating his cereal and saying nothing. "I mean as in you leave?" 

"Oh right." He said and got up, walking out of there with his food. Once Ed heard him go into the guest room and the door shut, he walked over to Lila and sat down by her. She looked at him. He reached over and took her hand gently in his. "I need to do this." 

"It could destroy you, your entire career, they may never let you back into the Union or anywhere near a Starship and-" 

"I think Alara's life is more important." He said, "I'd give that up for her, she gave up her life for mine. She's still on the ship at the cost of negotiating my freedom. I can't just ignore that and follow protocol. Getting her back is worth the cost of my career or my life. I don't care. I need to feel like I'm not a monster." 

"But you aren't a monster." Lila said, looking up and into his eyes, "You did everything you justifiably could. You held onto your command and your captaining spirit as long as you could. You are what every Captain should be and probably even more." He stared back at her for a moment very intently. 

"What was on that video?" He whispered. "What won't you tell me?" She looked away from him then pulled her hand from his and stood up. She paced for a moment then walked over to the six pack which was still out on the table for some reason. Grabbing a bottle, she opened it and chugged down some of the beer. She really shouldn't be drinking while also treating a patient but she felt she damn well needed it. It wasn't as if far more illegal discussions were taking place here already. She leaned against the kitchen table. 

"More Alara stuff. Alara with you. Alara with Blake. He sodomized her, you pretty much cheered him on." She said then took another long drink, "Then he did stuff to you." 

"Stuff?" He asked. 

"Really? I have to elaborate here?" She asked. 

"Yeah, or I'll fucking watch it." He said though he wasn't sure he wasn't going to watch it anyway but when he did he wanted to be prepared and at least if he knew ahead of time then he knew how long he could put it off before having to watch it. If something was done to him by Blake in that video he damn well wanted to know for himself since he held no memory of it. Even if it would be watching video documentation of his own rape. 

"Blowjob, sodomy..." She said, "Uh...marking his territory so to speak..." 

"He pissed on me? And I...wow..." He breathed. The only other thought he had in the moment was that at very least it wasn't done to Alara she didn't mention that but still, it enraged him. Mostly because he absolutely couldn't think of any rhyme or reason to make this video and implant it in him in such a fashion. Why? What the fuck could they be thinking? It was clear Blake wanted to have a hold over him as long as possible but what did this accomplish and how would Blake get any pleasure from it? Minor, maybe, but it seemed like a lot of work for all this trouble. It had to be more than that but he couldn't figure it out. "Why?" 

"Why? I don't fucking know. My best guess is that he assumed that someone else was going to see that video. Who? I don't know that either, Ed. Does it matter? No one else saw it but the three people in this apartment currently so-" 

"That's it." He whispered. "It was implanted in me. When I got back I refused to let anyone get close enough to touch me, right? I mean I don't really specifically remember that...just bits and pieces but I remember thinking that I didn't want anyone within a five-foot radius. I was broken, I smelled terrible, and I certainly didn't want to be poked and prodded after I'd been raped and beaten for so long. I couldn't stand the thought of anyone or anything touching me. I pushed it away and I attacked. They decided from a very basic visual assessment that I wasn't going to die so they gave up. Especially since I kept refusing consent to treat." 

"And?" 

"Well don't you see? That's it. What they expected was a full examination when I got back. That medical personnel would find it. Remove it....watch it." As he spoke he felt himself getting light-headed, nauseous. He stumbled back and ended up catching himself on the back of the couch to steady his balance, breathing deeply as he tried very hard not to vomit. 

"He expected the Union to get their hands on it with no context to the events before you could even defend yourself." Lila said, "Even if, eventually, it was obviously declared that you had no control over your behavior-"

"They'd have seen it. My superiors, my co-workers...everyone." He looked at her. "That was the plan. It would have destroyed me, destroyed everything. Alara too. That's what he wanted." 

"Jesus..." 

"You tell me now you don't want to get that bastard. You look me in the eye and you tell me that you don't want to leave here tomorrow and get him for all of this." He said. 

"Wanting to do something isn't the same as actually doing something, Ed." She said and approached him. "I know that it's easy to let emotions get the best of us but we aren't equipped for this in any type of way, and three of us? Against his entire ship? Have we all lost our minds?" 

"Lila please I need to feel in control again I need to feel normal. I need to feel like I'm not some sort of sadistic rapist." He told her. She reached up and touched his face softly, her thumb running over his lips gently. They made eye contact, and it stayed that way. His hand came up and grabbed her wrist firmly but not painfully. She didn't shy away from him at all, she didn't wince, she didn't react in fear. "How can you look at me like that and not see a monster." 

"What I see is a strong man. A dedicated man. A man in more control of his mind and body than he should ever have to be. I see loyalty. I see trust. I see intelligence and I see sanity." She said. "I see a man who knows why this is stupid and risky and I see a man who's going to do it with or without my help...so maybe I should just help him." She whispered. He stared at her, saying nothing for a long moment before pulling her into a tight hug. She hugged him back just as tightly. He knew that no matter what happened, he would make sure she was safe too. She'd already been through enough and it was asking a lot for her to help them but she was going to do it and she was going to do it for him. He pulled back and looked down at her. She grabbed him and pulled him into a hungry kiss. He didn't know what this was about but he did know he'd be damned if he wasn't going to kiss back. Pulling her close to him he mirrored her passion and hunger as she started to rub against him. His hands moved to her ass, squeezing it firmly. Fuck she had a nice body. 

"Seriously? Did you ask me to leave so you two could fuck? Because I mean...an invitation would have been nice." Gordon said. Lila pulled back from him and wiped her face quickly, turning away and grabbing her beer, finishing it quickly. Ed turned to look at Gordon, well, glare was a more appropriate term. 

"Dude..." 

"Dude!" Gordon replied and motioned to Lila with the hand that wasn't holding his bowl of cereal. Lila chuckled softly and Ed realized that this interaction probably seemed incredibly stupid to someone looking in on the outside. Especially since they both knew what each other meant just from the tone they were using to say one stupid word. 

"Okay well if we are going to do this I need to make arrangements with my ship and get it stocked," Lila said. "You two will be fine here alone for a few hours until I can get back?" 

"Yeah, no problem." Gordon said, "But I get a makeout session when you get back. It's only fair." 

"And why is that?" Lila asked. 

"Uh...." Gordon said, "Well...because...I outrank you." 

"Gordon..." Ed said in a warning tone. 

"Oh, you always get the women shut up." He said then sat down and pouted. 

"Come up with some sort of reasonable and sane game plan by the time I get back, please?" Lila urged them. She grabbed her bag and left shortly there after. Ed walked to the couch and sat down, still glaring at Gordon. 

"Dude..." 

"Oh, whatever," Gordon said and rolled his eyes.

* * *

It had absolutely not been easy. It also took more than a few days to actually modify the ship considering how much of it had to be done in secrecy. They had to find parts, they had to find them on the black market, and they had to make sure no one was questioning why. Unfortunately, Lila was involved in a lot of this since Ed going missing had been a high profile case and people would have recognized him. Gordon was just too awkwardly stupid to talk to criminals about anything and not come off as suspicious. 

While Gordon worked on the ship, Lila and Ed worked on plans to actually make this work. They weren't good plans either. Or at least they were all backup plans. The thing was that it would be very hard to do with only three people but that was all they had. The intent was to get to this pirate outpost, blend in as much as possible and attempt to figure out if anyone knew where Blake was or how to get to him. Someone like Blake would have a huge reputation, his ship would as well, which meant they probably wouldn't have to look too hard or for too long to figure it out. Everything after that was going to be one hell of a big impromptu hail Mary attempt to get to Blake (unguarded) and subsequently, Alara. 

The only other problem would not be totally murdering each other before they got to the borderlands considering it would take a week and a half even with the modifications that Gordon had made to her ship. They would take shifts flying since there was only one cabin on there to sleep in and it wasn't a very big one. The ship had a replicator but now it also had emergency back up rations as well as real food just in case they would need it. They left the planet with a completely fake flight plan and intentions filed and the moment they could make a break for it they did. There was no turning back, and each one of them had no way of knowing if they'd ever see their homes again.

* * *

"We're almost at the border." Gordon said over the ship's comm. Lila had been sleeping in the bed in the cabin as it had been her shift to sleep. Ed was in the cabin as well dozing in a chair that was across from her. Lila groaned and sat up, she looked over at Ed. 

"If this is like the time he said we were almost to Jupiter and he meant another 48 hours, can I hit him?" 

"I'll hit him," Ed said and stood up. They both went to the bridge together but were very pleased to find that he meant that their ETA was about ten minutes. Lila sat down and breathed a sigh of relief. If only for a moment, because then panic set in and made her realize what exactly they were about to do. There was silence then, until they crossed over onto the other side, and the only thing that broke the silence was their frequencies being hailed by another ship. 

"Shit," Gordon said, "What do I do?" 

"Don't answer it," Ed said. 

"Why not?" Lila asked. 

"I don't know but we aren't exactly in an area where people are usually friendly," Ed replied. "Can you at least see the ship it's coming from? Scan it?" 

"Yeah hang on," Gordon said and entered the commands on the console. This ship was nothing like a Union ship or Union issued ship so a lot of the commands were manual instead of voice-activated which was good because it at very least meant that the view screen didn't immediately come on and expose them to whoever was using the hailing frequency. "Uh...this is weird but it's The Orville." 

"Floor it...GO GO GO GO GO!" Ed yelled at him. Gordon freaked out and put the ship into full warp, which they used sparingly because the vessel was so small warp became incredibly unbearable very quickly. It was why it took them so long to get where they were going. Gordon kept the ship in warp for a good ten minutes as he maneuvered insanely around obstacles, around meteors, basically, anything he could to lose a big ship like The Orville that they in no way would be able to keep up with. By the time they came out of warp, there was no trace of the ship within the reach of their scanners. 

"All clear." Gordon said, "And you said my maniac flying would get us all killed one day. That day was not today my friend." 

"One day...." Ed muttered. He got up and headed out of there back to the sleeper cabin to get something to take care of his nausea. Lila stayed where she was staring at Gordon. 

"What?" He asked, "Never seen anyone hug the donkey before?" He chuckled cockily and turned back to what he was doing. She got up and grabbed his chair. She turned it and grabbed him, pulling him into a rough kiss. He flailed for a moment before figuring out what was going on and pulling her into him as he started to kiss back. This lasted for a few minutes before she pushed him back. 

"Don't ever do that again." She breathed then stumbled back, turned and entered the bathroom where she puked. Gordon frowned. 

"Well, thanks...I think?" He called. 

"The puke wasn't you! It was the flying!" She called. "I promise!" 

"Oh well in that case...." He grinned and turned back to the console. They were in the Borderlands now. International lawless space. The quicker they got to the outpost, the better. Hopefully, they wouldn't run into anything hostile on the way, or even worse, The Orville. 


	17. Incognito

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The way I see it is we all know Seth MacFarlane is a voice actor and he does several voices including Stewie, ergo I believe that Ed Mercer would be pretty adept at faking a British accent (and just to be clear he does NOT sound like Stewie in this chapter just a really tough ass British guy). As much as I realize Ed is not Seth cause Ed's a character Seth plays, Seth possessed the vocal talent to pull off such a thing so Ed presumably would as well. I also imagine Ed is a really good singer but don't worry that's not in the story....yet????

"Ed come out." Lila called, "You can't possibly look any worse than I do in this ridiculous outfit." 

"Yeah you keep saying you look bad but I think-" 

"Don't say what you think I know what you think and it's going to be something about how slutty I look or something." She replied. Since they were about to approach and land on a pirate outpost they needed to actually look like pirates. The plan was to claim they hijacked this ship, not that it was actually their ship. Since they'd manufactured fake identities and other things it would at least appear the ship was stolen. It still hadn't been her idea to dress like a space slut and there had been a ton of arguing over it. The problem was she had to recognize that she wasn't tough, nor was she any sort of warrior, nor did she know how to fight. Which meant that she basically had to pretend to be property of Ed's. This left her wearing a tight leather crop top, mini skirt, and knee high hooker boots with stiletto heels. Her hair was completely down which meant it rest just above her ass and she'd gone from brunette to blond. She also had a nose ring, a bunch of earrings, a few fake tattoos, and a lip piercing. 

Her appearance didn't matter too much but Gordon's and Ed's did. Especially since Blake would know very well what they looked like and the rest of his crew would too. Gordon was now a blond as well, with far more hair. It was shaggy and longer pulled back into a very lazy half pony tail. One of his eyes was a dark green, the other one looked frosted over as if it had been injured at some point and there was a scar under it. The rest of his outfit was just black pants and a tight black shirt with a long leather coat. A few rings here and there and a silver choke chain for a necklace. His boots at least had platforms to make him appear taller than he was. Lila could hardly recognize him and if he hadn't sounded exactly the same she was sure she'd end up losing him in a crowd. 

"I feel incredibly stupid." Ed said, "If either of you laugh..." 

"Well we can't help but laugh now, you told us not to." Gordon called, "Come on are we gonna do this or what? It's not as if we didn't research what they are supposed to look like. We have the fashion correct even if it really doesn't suit us. Excluding Lila." 

"How in the world does this suit me?" 

"I'll tell you the moment you turn into a man and can look at yourself." Gordon responded. She stuck her tongue out at him. 

"Fine!" Ed said and opened the door from the sleeping quarters and stepped out. His outfit was similar to Gordon's except there was more mental studs involved. He looked like some sort of 80's punk throwback crossed with a pirate. His hair was longer and spiked up with frosted tips. There was a tattoo over the side of his face, a chain from his ear to his nose (both of which were pierced) and a stud in his lip. On his hands were finger less gloves and a bunch of different rings with skulls and snake emblems. 

"Yeah you do look pretty stupid." Gordon said. 

"Gordon!" Lila said then tried to hide the fact that she wanted to laugh. 

"It's not funn-" he paused when he saw her, "Wow." 

"Oh shut up." She said, "Gordon, take us to the outpost please. I do not look nearly as good as you two are acting like I do." 

* * *

It didn't take them much longer to get to the outpost and replicate the currency they would need to either bribe people, get supplies, or find a place to stay for the night while the ship was checked up on and serviced. Since this was a currency based system they'd replicated enough to severely modify the ship to make it faster, more dangerous, and include weaponry. There was a bit of a fight over her wearing a collar and a leash so people would know she belonged to Ed but once she was reminded that this place wasn't nearly like the planetary system she was used to, she submitted and allowed it. They landed the ship at a service area and headed into the outpost together. 

"So, where do we start?" Lila asked, her eyes skimming over the myriad of similarly dressed people who were milling around there. At very least they blended in really well even if this was the exact opposite of what they were used to in way of fashion. 

"Look," Gordon pointed to a sign that indicated there was a bar in that direction, "Seems like a good place to start." 

"Why? Because you want a beer?" Ed asked. 

"That too." Gordon said and started walking. Ed grumbled under his breath and started to head after him, Lila had no choice but to follow along with them. She stayed as close to Ed as she could because she didn't like some of the looks she was getting. Both from male and females of various species. They took a booth in the back that looked like it was empty and not currently reserved for anyone who would be considered more important than them. As far as she was aware the whole 'ranking' system here went by reputation of how bad or dangerous that person was. If Blake did happen to enter the area while they were there, they'd surely hear about it quickly. 

There were various projections of things on the walls. Mostly different sporting events. None of them looked legal and all of them had betting systems tied into them. On their own table in the center was a system where they could chose which events to watch and also order stuff from so they wouldn't be bothered by a server if they were there for a private meeting. At least this meant they'd be left alone. This area of space was weird. Limited replicator availability. Limited supplies. It was like everything was taken back a few hundred years to the early 2000s. In small ways it was appealing but not for long periods of time. 

"What's the plan now?" Lila asked. 

"Food and booze." Gordon said going through the menu as he spoke with them so that he could do it quickly. They did have plenty of currency with them from the ship and it was replicated to an extent where no one would be able to tell that it was counterfeit. 

"You're really hungry right now?" Ed asked. 

"Hell yeah I'm hungry. I don't care if you two are but I'm going to get something." He said and put his order in. Lila was next but all she did was order a beer and some chili fries as those were the only things that currently seemed appetizing. "Want anything, Ed?" 

"Not sure, just yet. I do know that at least one of us needs to be sober here." He said and then started browse the menu while his eyes also scanned the tavern area. He didn't exactly expect Blake to come walking in there but he was trying to spot anyone who looked like they might have information, even if it was for a price. Lila moved her fingers to the collar around her neck and tugged at it a bit. 

"This thing is not comfortable." She said. 

"If it helps, it looks pretty cool." Gordon said. 

"Thanks, I guess." She sighed and rested back in her seat. "You know we could potentially be here for weeks trying to get information. The Orville is out there somewhere maybe we could-" 

"No, we don't need their help and even if we actually kind of do and I'm totally bullshitting you right now, it would be a terrible idea. We can do this just fine ourselves." Ed insisted. She understood why it would be a bad idea and the trouble it could potentially get them into but she also was very worried about any sort of backup plan if things completely went to shit. 

* * *

> _"Here, inject it into him." Blake ordered handing her a device that looked similar to an old fashioned gun._
> 
> _"Where?" Alara asked. She was looking over Ed who was laying on the bed, his eyes open and definitely conscious but he was still doing that ten yard stare thing that denoted he wasn't aware of much going on around him, if anything at all. She was holding the injection gun in her hand and she'd thought for a moment about injecting something into his eye instead but she knew that would cost her Ed's freedom and possibly his life. If she wanted to get him out of there, and she really did, then she knew that she had to be absolutely perfectly behaved up until his release._
> 
> _"Somewhere that he's not going to mess with it, it won't be easily found by him so he can remove it...something like that." Blake said dismissively. Alara frowned. She knew what she was injecting into him. It was the metal capsule that contained the data chip that also included the video. Even though Ed was drugged to holy hell in the moment it didn't mean that he was going to always be this way, especially once they sent him out on his own shuttle to find his freedom. Since by that point she knew they were already being looked for because the rest of the crew had to have gotten back, it wouldn't be too long before he was picked up. She fully expected Blake to dose him good before that point so he wouldn't remember much either._
> 
> _She reached for his pants and unzipped them pulling them down and pressing the injector gun right above his cock. The best she could figure is that he may think it was some type of infection or disease and be too embarrassed to tell anyone right away. The thing was, she didn't want that video to be found or to be seen by anyone but Ed. At that point she doubted that he even knew he had filmed it and if he was the only one to find it, completely alone, that would be the best scenario. She was just sure it wouldn't work out exactly that way. Nothing ever did. She pressed the trigger to inject the bullet. Ed let out a pain groan and tensed up for a moment but was silent and still shortly after. Back to his ten yard blank stare._
> 
> _"Interesting choice." Blake told her and pulled her close, "Is some of my sadism rubbing off on you?"_
> 
> _"Not in your wildest dreams." She growled. It would be stupid for her to tell him why she had chosen that location so she didn't intend to. If he asked she'd make something up. "Can I have a moment alone with him before you release him?"_
> 
> _"Moment...." Blake muttered and looked Ed over. "Fine, two minutes. That's it." He grabbed the injector gun from her and headed out of the room. The door closed then sealed. Even if she had wanted to take that moment to try to escape she wouldn't have been able to do it without Ed. Locking the door seemed entirely unnecessary to her at that moment but Blake was paranoid, and for good reason._
> 
> _"Ed," She said softly as she gently fastened his pants back up. "I'm so sorry about this. You are going to be very upset with me once you get back and figure out what happened I just know it." She laid down next to him and pulled him close, into a reassuring hug. More so for herself than his as it didn't seem to matter much what she did to him now (or Blake) as it got very little reaction. It was probably a major factor in why Blake had agreed to this. Ed had worn out his entertainment value, or was at least starting to, Alara hadn't completely let herself break. She knew once he was gone it would be pointless to keep holding on so she was preparing herself for that moment._
> 
> _"No matter what you do, when you get back, do not let them examine you. If you remember anything I say from this moment, that's the most important thing. Do not, under any circumstances, let them examine you. Fight them, yell at them, refuse consent to treat. Do not let them touch you." She breathed into his ear using the soft whispering technique that Ed had showed her what seemed like ages ago. Even if she believed that it was completely pointless to say this to him because she was positive he wasn't registering it, at very least she could tell herself she tried to do the right thing when she had the chance._
> 
> _"I love you for all you've done here. I know you think that this is all your fault and you are a very bad man but you aren't. This was out of your control and you held on as long as you possibly could. I promise that I will try as hard as I can to remember that. Even if I never see you again." She continued. After that, she didn't have any more words because there was nothing left to say. She just closed her eyes and pressed her face against him, allowing this moment to let herself cry until Blake got back. The only thing she knew was that she had a very sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach that she was never going to see him or home ever again._

* * *

Hours had passed and nothing had really happened. Gordon was eating his third bacon cheese burger and drinking his fifth beer. Ed was eyeing everyone in the bar looking like a paranoid lunatic and Lila was wondering how any of this was supposed to work. Though it was a good thing to get Ed out and doing something other than wallowing in his own self pity and fear, was this really the thing they needed to be doing to help him fight his demons? Just as she was about to ask him how he thought this was supposed to work, someone grabbed her by the arm and yanked her out of the booth. She yelped then gagged as she was still attached to the leash that Ed was holding. It was a blessing because otherwise this guy might have just run off with her. 

"OI! What you think you're doing there mate?" Ed snapped in the most unbelievably convincing British accent she'd ever heard. Well, at least one she never thought Ed would come up with. He leaned out of the booth and yanked her back in, the guy letting go of her shortly after that point. 

"I don't see you usin her." The guy countered. 

"Maybe I just got done usin her and I'm takin a little break, yeah?" Ed replied. He sounded very intimidating, incredibly Alpha Male. Even though it was most certainly just an act, Lila found herself attracted to this while also knowing how stupid it was to be attracted to this sort of thing. Suddenly, out of nowhere, Gordon stood up and decked the guy in the face, knocking him to the floor. 

"BACK OFF!" He roared. Certainly something completely unexpected. He sat back down as if nothing had happened and picked up his beer, taking a casual drink from it. The guy glared up at him from the floor but since the rest of the bar started laughing at him (and jeering) he seemed to figure out he had no choice but to back down since Gordon had decked him so hard. He got up and brushed himself off. 

"Watch your back." He warned. 

"Fuck off you cunt." Ed snapped at him. The good news was they were already building a reputation for themselves by behaving this way, and a good one. Once the guy was gone, Lila shimmied over to the other side of Ed so she wasn't sitting on the outside of the booth. She didn't want to risk being grabbed again. Ed turned and looked at Gordon. 

"Where'd you get that accent?" He whispered. 

"I don't know I just figured if I used my regular voice someone might recognize me." Ed whispered back. "Why'd you hit him?" Gordon looked at Lila she looked back at him. Part of her realized that his sudden drunken display of violence probably had to do with the way she was most likely looking at Ed when he stood up before. She looked away from him and Gordon shrugged. 

"He had it coming." He said and finished his beer, "But this plan of yours is getting us nowhere fast." 

"I realized that about an hour ago I just didn't want to admit it." He confessed. 

"Then what do we do?" Lila asked. Ed held out the leash to Gordon who took it even though he looked confused. Ed got out of the booth and put his hands on the table, leaning in towards them. 

"I'm going to look around myself. See if there's anyone I can bribe or intimidate into giving me information. You stay here with her." Ed said.

"Me? Why me?" Gordon asked. 

"Because everyone just saw you knock down a guy twice your size for no reason with one punch. They didn't see me do that." Ed insisted. 

"He has a point." Gordon said looking over at Lila. 

"Fine, but if you aren't back in an hour, we're coming to look for you." Lila insisted. 

"If you don't hear from me, I'll keep you updated." He motioned to the communicators they were all wearing. Nothing very obvious just things that looked liked accessories for their outfits. Lila gave him a nod but she really didn't want him to go off alone and do this. She didn't think he was ready for it. Once he was out of their direct line of sight, Gordon ordered himself another beer and looked over at her. 

"You were jealous." She said. 

"Of what?" He asked then snorted like he was definitely trying to cover up for something here. Namely the fact that he was jealous. 

"Alpha male behavior is attractive but it's nothing to base a mate on." Lila rolled her eyes, "I typically date guys more like you when I have time for it." 

"Really?" He asked and then grinned stupidly. She wasn't lying to him either. Though it wasn't exactly her trying to say she would date him, because she still was unsure of the ethical ramifications of that, he did have the personality type she was attracted to. Well, more so than Ed. If she had to be honest she'd have said she'd liked them both equally for different reasons but very little of it had to do with either of them acting like pigheaded violent morons. Maybe like five percent. 

"Yes really now wipe that dopey grin off of your face or you'll blow our cover." She whispered. 

"Right." He said and went back to looking pissed off and ready to pounce on anyone who came near him at any given second. She sighed and rested her head against him. Hopefully Ed wouldn't get himself murdered out there alone. 

* * *

"Looks like we're docked." Blake said, checking out the view screen from his office. Alara was typically brought anywhere that Blake was on the ship because she was his pet now and only his. The benefit of that was the only one fucking her was Blake but that was also the downside of it. She didn't reply to him, she'd learned that he said things a lot without wanting any sort of reply. They had docked before and he'd left her in her cage and gone off for a while only to come back. What he did on those trips she didn't have a clue nor did she really care to find out. "Think I can take you with me this time." 

"Huh?" She whispered, this did get her to look up. He'd never even mentioned the idea of this before. She assumed that she'd have to be far more well trained before he'd take her anywhere in public that she could possibly escape. Then again, what did she have to escape to? Where would she go? This was lawless space, there was very little chance of anyone helping her because they were a good Samaritan or something. The sad fact of the matter was she knew that she wouldn't run anyway. Half the time she was mentally 'off' and at Blake's every command. The Pavlovian shock treatment had seen to that. Even if she still had a tiny inner voice telling her to get away, the larger voice just told her to obey or there would be pain and she was too tired and weakened to do anything without being absolutely sure it was a foolproof escape plan. It had been a few weeks now and she'd gotten no indication that the Union was anywhere near finding her. She'd lost all hope. 

"You heard me." He said and grabbed a leash from his desk. He walked over to her and clipped it to her collar. "No use in having such a gorgeous pet if I can't show her off." 

She didn't want to be shown off or be a pet but there was no use in fighting this either. Maybe it would sharpen her mind to be in some place other than the 4 areas on the ship Blake usually took her to. Maybe interacting with others would give her some sort of hope that she could escape. The problem was that the shock collar was still on her and the range of that thing seemed endless. Even if she did run off he could potentially drop her with the push of a button before she got anywhere close to an escape. She would just have to learn to appreciate this as some type of reward for good behavior. If that's what it was, in any case. 

* * *

Ed headed to the docking area to look over the ships that were coming in. At least, the first docking area. This was a very large outpost and there were four different areas that ships came into. His intent was to question some of the alleged security at the entrances to see if they knew anyone meeting Blake's general description. It would take about an hour to traverse the entire outpost and get back to the tavern, at least by his estimations so he figured he'd be back right in time and avoid getting chewed out. Hopefully with new information. Hell, it would be even better if he didn't have to go to all four docking stations to find out something useful. 

"Hey!" He snapped at one of the security guards by the doors making sure to keep his new accent. "Lookin for a man, got a score to settle." 

"And?" The guard asked looking utterly unimpressed. He didn't say anything he just pulled out a nice wad of cash for the guy to look at. "I'm listening." 

"Right, yeah so there's this guy...about this tall, blond spiky hair, goes by the name of Blake. Ya seen him?" The guard took the money from Ed's hand and shoved it into his front pocket. He shrugged and looked around. 

"Blake's a common name, I don't know if I've seen any Blake's around here." He replied. However, he had taken the money so all Ed took this to mean was that this man definitely knew who he was talking about but the price he'd already paid for the information hadn't been high enough. He got out more money. It meant nothing to him anyway as he could make more on the ship and he wouldn't need it once he got back. He offered the guy a bit more. He took it. 

"Ah right...that guy." The guard said, putting the money into his pocket once more, "I've seen him, yeah." 

"Right, when did you last see him?" 

"Dunno...memory is a tricky thing." The guard replied giving him a look. Ed was hoping that this wasn't some trick to get a bunch of money off of him just because he had it. For all he knew, this guard knew complete crap about Blake and was just leading him on to get the cash. The problem also was that he might know everything about Blake there was really no way to tell and he figured calling anyone a liar here would just end in a fist fight. Ed took out a considerable amount of their currency and held it in the guard's line of sight but kept it out of clear view from anyone passing. The guard reached for it and Ed grabbed him by the throat and slammed him back into the wall. 

"Don't jerk me around, you either fuckin know something or you fuckin don't. Don't sell me bullshit and tell me it's chocolate, yeah?" Ed snarled at him. This was an incredibly stupid thing to do but it seemed to work because the guy put his hands up in surrender. Ed let him go and took a step back. "You know something, or not?" 

"Comes here every fortnight for a resupply." The guy rasped and then brushed himself off. 

"When was the last fortnight visit?" 

"Bout a fortnight ago." The man said. Ed's eyes went wide and he jammed the rest of the money into the guy's hand. 

"For your silence," He growled and eyed the guard before storming off. He had no idea if that was enough money to buy silence but since the man seemed somewhat intimidated by that whole tough guy act it could possibly work. The only problem was he had to find out what port Blake would dock at. Or if he already had. 

* * *

This outpost was definitely like nothing Alara had ever seen before. Though she'd been to many different outposts in many different sectors of space, they'd all been covered by the Union or at least allies of the union. Though some weren't as safe as others, they were nothing like this. This place was basically a madhouse and looked like they'd walked through a time rift taking them back about 500 years. The way people were dressed was odd, well, in the way that they were all dressed like Blake and his crew. There wasn't anything resembling the world she knew or how she remembered it. Except maybe the view screens showing various sports, a lot of which had to be illegal. 

He'd let her get dressed for this, but it was in that same idiotic dominatrix outfit she'd worn to dinner on the last night she'd seen Ed with his mind intact. It wasn't easy to keep up with the heels she'd been forced into but she was managing just enough so she wouldn't end up getting choked by the leash. She was trying to memorize the area so if she did finally convince herself to run for it then she would be able to figure out where she was going. She was also looking for good places to take cover and to hide. If she ended up alone here she didn't need to worry much about her own safety. She wasn't seeing a ton of aliens she couldn't throw across the room to get away from. The only one she had to seriously worry about was Blake or people from his crew as she'd been psychologically trained never to attack any of them via the shock collar method. Everyone else would be fair game. 

They entered a more crowded sector of hallway, things were packed. It seemed it was an entrance way to a food court like area. Something akin to a cafeteria. Except this area also had booths of people openly selling all sorts of illegal weapons, drugs, food, and other items that were contraband and seriously illegal within the scope of Union territory. They rounded a corner and as they did she was rudely knocked into by some asshole who completely ignored that he'd run into her and hurried on his way. She turned to yell at him but stopped, her eyes tracing his form as he vanished through the crowd. 

"Ed..." she whispered. 

"What?" Blake asked loudly. That man seriously needed to be taught how to whisper. He didn't have any setting below maximum volume. She shook her head. She had to be imagining things. Surely in a place with tons of people like that she'd run into dozens of people that resembled him but the scent, that cologne. She didn't think she'd ever smelled it on anyone but Ed. 

"Nothing, Master." She whispered and lowered her head. It just couldn't have possibly been him. She refused to get her hopes up for nothing and tried to concentrate on behaving from there on out so she wouldn't end up getting several punishments once they were back on board the ship. 


	18. In A Pickle

Ed hadn't even realized that he had run into Alara since he was in such a hurry to get back to Gordon and Lila. There were so many different aliens around that place, including Xelayans that she was easy to miss. Not to mention she was on the smaller side and there had been hundreds of people in the passage that he had just walked through. When he got back to the tavern, he went straight to the booth where Gordon and Lila were busy making out. They didn't stop or even acknowledge him even when he stepped up to the table. He watched for a moment then cleared his throat loudly. They both scrambled away from each other. Lila looked away from him sheepishly but Gordon looked prouder than he ever had. Ed had some idea that he thought he'd stolen Lila away from him which was why he was so happy. He'd just let him keep thinking that since it didn't harm anyone. 

"Alright, how drunk are both of you?" He asked. 

"Not very." Gordon replied. Lila didn't say anything. 

"Whatever. From what I just learned, Blake comes into port here every two weeks for a resupply and the last time he did that was about two weeks ago. We have a good chance of catching him. There are four docking stations. I already checked the closest one. So if we split up-" 

"Split up? All of us? Or you mean one of us takes her?" Gordon asked and motioned to Lila. 

"One of us will have to take her, still, we can check more docks that way. She doesn't know what Blake's ship looks like and even if she did, I'm not having her walking around here alone." Ed said. 

"Then you take her." Gordon insisted and held her leash out. 

"Why?" Both Lila and Ed asked at the same time. 

"She's your therapist and I already know if I fuck this up and something happens to her you aren't going to be very forgiving." Gordon said. He climbed out of the booth and stood up. "I'm better off on my own in that case." 

"Gordon I wouldn't..."

"No, you say you wouldn't but you most definitely would." Gordon said. "I'll be fine on my own. These people sell weapons everywhere. I'll buy one and I'll be fine. Contact me if you find anything." 

"Right, weapons." Ed muttered. 

"You mean you didn't buy any?" Lila asked. 

"We can take care of that right now." Ed said. "Gordon, don't do anything stupid." 

"I'll try." He said and headed out of there. Ed watched him for a moment while Lila got herself out of the booth and stood close to him. He put his arm around her protectively and started to walk with her as he eyed the other men in the bar. 

"You want a weapon?" He asked softly. 

"Yes." She whispered. 

"How much experience do you have with them?" He asked softly. 

"Point and shoot. It's not exactly that hard to figure out." She replied. He did recall how expertly she had stunned him when he tried to attack her after they'd first met. Even if she wasn't trained with weapons or with combat, she certainly had a decent survival instinct. In a place like this it may mean nothing but it did tell him she wouldn't hesitate to defend herself if she felt she needed to and that was all he needed to know. 

They walked to the crowded vendors hall again and Ed stopped at booth to look over the weapons they had there. He was surprised they had guns, actual guns that shot real bullets. All of them guaranteed to be in working order. He was amazed anyone still sold these things as back on Earth they were typically considered artifacts and were in museums or they were junk because no one really knew how to use them. He'd done enough holo-simulations with Gordon that were set in the past to be confident with one and not end up shooting himself. He also kind of liked the idea of being able to shoot Blake and not necessarily instantly kill him. Yes, that would be very nice. 

"Ed?" Lila said softly. He looked at her for a moment then turned back to purchase his gun. It was a 9mm sig sauer from what he understood. Seemed like it was a hot sell here, according to the weird looking green guy trying to pawn it off on him once he realized Ed had money (but also knew about weapons so he couldn't be scammed). He bought her a smaller, easily concealed laser gun which was far easier to use, as well as knife, just in case. 

"What?" He asked, except that time he was using his British accent. 

"Blake...he's over there." She whispered. Ed turned to attempt to look over to see what Lila was seeing. Very far from where they stood was Blake. He seemed to be arguing with a vendor who was selling some type of drugs. He could only see the very top of Blake's head, to his eyes, but they were eyes that were hard to forget. He wasn't surprised that Lila picked him out so easily with how many times she must have sat through that video. Ed turned back and slid a bunch of money towards the vendor. 

"Ammo, and that bag over there." Ed said, "As much ammo as that amount will cover." 

"Yes sir!" The alien said happily. Ed was pretty sure that this guy wasn't used to having money thrown at him at random like this so he was more than happy to do what he was being ordered. Once Ed had all the stuff he purchased he jammed the excess ammo into the bag and started to load the clip for the gun quickly. 

"What are you doing? You can't do this right here." Lila hissed softly. 

"Oh like anyone gives a shit. I'm not going to shoot him I'm just getting my weapon loaded." Ed whispered back to her. Once the clip was loaded and in the gun, he racked a bullet into the chamber and holstered it. "We need to get closer." 

"Closer?" Lila asked, "Before you do that you'r going to need to tell me some sort of plan. A good plan." 

"Fine fine." He muttered then brought his wrist to his mouth since his communicator was a pin on his cuff. "Located Blake, get back to the vendor's hall outside of the tavern, now." 

"Aye aye." Gordon replied. Ed rolled his eyes he didn't really want to be addressed like that but since he had to figure there were many captains of many ships here, maybe it wasn't so weird. Nor would it blow their covers. He looked at Lila. 

"I just want to get close enough to hear what he might be talking about." He said. "Which means you will probably need to get closer than me. He doesn't know what you look like or who you are. I'll have you on a leash so he's not going to run off with you. Look for Alara." 

"Right..." She said, "You know I wanted a good plan right?" 

"You have a better one?" He asked. She growled and shook her head. He put his arm around her again and started to head towards Blake since he was still arguing with a vendor about something. Once they were within ten feet of him, Ed pretended to go to a nearby vendor, keeping his back to Blake but still attempting to listen into the conversation. It seemed he was trying to purchase drugs. Alien drugs with weird names that Ed never heard of. He doubted any of this was for himself but for whatever crew members he currently had on them, or slaves. The entire time he was on the ship he hadn't seen Blake do any drugs, the man barely even had more than one glass of wine at the time. The only illegal substance he seemed to have ever injected into him was the Xelayan DNA. 

Lila took a deep breath and wiggled her way through the crowd. The leash was only about six feet long so she could get close but not close enough to actually make physical contact with Blake. She was on the taller side for a woman, even without heels so in heels, she had a decent height advantage. This brought her to a point where she ran into someone. As she looked down to apologize she saw who it was and her eyes went wide. It was Alara. In a very similar predicament as her, on a leash. Except her collar looked far more vicious and electronic. Lila could only assume that it had control over her in someway which was why she wasn't currently trying to escape or screaming for help. 

"Sorry." Alara muttered. Since they had never met before, she had no idea who Lila was so she had no reason to try to talk to her and just tried to make herself smaller and say out of the way. Lila knew she needed to do something but she also knew that it would be a bad idea to get Alara riled up with Blake so close. 

"It was my fault." Lila said, "You here alone?" Alara looked up at her and then pointed to her collar, looking at Lila like she was a moron. 

"You think?" 

"Sorry just making conversation." She said and pointed at her own collar, "Master doesn't take me out much so all I really have is him." 

"Yeah, I feel you on that." Alara said. This was the first time in a very long time she had anything resembling a normal conversation with someone other than Blake. She definitely didn't get to talk to any other females. She was pretty sure that there weren't any on the ship. At least not crew members. Slaves, maybe, but Blake kept her pretty isolated. She assumed it was all a part of the conditioning process until she was so broken down he didn't need to guard her any longer. 

"Master calls me Angel." She said trying not to wince at the overly stupid name her fake identity had created at random. She'd tried to shuffle the program several times but Angel seemed to be the least stupid one, so that's what she went with. It was a program derived of common slave names for human females that outlaws would keep. 

"Master calls me all sorts of things. Bitch, cunt, pet..." Alara said, "But my actual name is Alara." 

"That's a pretty name. Very strong." Lila said. She felt a tug on her leash and she casually glanced behind her. She didn't think that Alara would be able to see Ed from her vantage point and even if she could it may be debatable if she recognized him with the face tattoo, new hair, and all of the ridiculous metal studs and chains. 

 _'what are you doing?'_  a Ed's voice crackled in her ear. Of course the communicators were set in a way where the audio couldn't be heard by anyone else around them. The problem was that she couldn't answer back in a way that would look like she was trying to communicate. There was a tug on her leash again. She smiled at Alara and moved her hand up to her hair like she was playing with it so she could speak into her own communicator. 

"Where is your Master, Alara? He must be pretty powerful to keep a Xelayan as a pet." She said and kept playing with her hair for another moment so it wouldn't look overly suspicious. She knew Ed would have gotten that message relayed to him because her communicator was in her bracelet and would be activated by the close proximity of her voice. The leash went a bit more slack. 

"Powerful? He's a fucking monster." She muttered. No sooner then that did a gunshot ring out through the general area. Everything went silent and people ducked down, including Alara. The only two people left standing after that were Ed, and Blake who had fired the gun. 

"I told you not to fuck me with these prices, Charlie." Blake said, his voice near the point of yelling, "Don't sell me crap, this is all crap, I need the good stuff and I know you fucking have it!" Lila glanced up nearly at the same time as Alara. There had only been one gunshot and the rest of the crowd was starting to get back to their usual pitch and speed. It seemed like that was common around here. From what she could tell, Blake had shot one of the vendors at the stall and was now yelling at the other vendor who was clearly named Charlie. Blake had just murdered a guy, in front of a bunch of people, and no one was doing anything about it. Lila didn't expect much less than that but she was pretty damn terrified now. 

"You okay?" Alara asked, putting a hand on her arm. 

"Huh?" She asked, still a bit shocked from that sudden loud boom and the situation of standing about five feet away from a man who was just brutally murdered. She could see him laying behind the vendors stall, bleeding, and still. If he was alive no one was even trying to help him. This Charlie guy was moving quickly now to get something out of a safe. Blake turned to look over the crowd casually as he waited and saw her. 

"Are you okay?" Alara asked, "I hate to say you get used to that sort of thing but you do. Are you new around here?" 

 _'Tell her you have to go because your master needs you to open a jar of pickles'_  Ed's voice crackled in her ear again. Lila was utterly confused by that statement because it meant absolutely nothing to her. She had to figure that it would mean something to Alara and at least give her some hint that she needed to hang tight because help was on its way but she didn't actually go. Her leash tugged again, this time, far more roughly than the first few. 

"I uh...I should go. Master needs my help opening a jar of pickles." She said making direct eye contact with Alara as she firmly spoke the last few words. Alara's face looked absolutely stunned for a moment and then she squinted a bit as if trying to recognize Lila. Perhaps she assumed that she was someone from the crew of The Orville in disguise trying to give her a message. 

"Who told you to say that?" Alara asked. 

"My Master." Lila replied firmly and then there was yank on the leash so hard she had no choice but to stumble back towards Ed through the crowd. 

* * *

Alara wasn't sure what had just happened there. Who that was, where she had come from or what she wanted. What she did know was that the phrase was extremely specific and really could have only come from Ed Mercer. There wouldn't be anyone else who would think to say that to her at random, nor did anyone who was here look like they'd need any sort of pickle jars opened in the practical sense. Which meant that Ed was here, that woman was...God only knew who, and she was going to need to make a plan to get together. 

The best thing she could possibly do was keep Blake on this outpost as long as humanly possible to give Ed time to formulate a plan. Or put whatever plan he had in action, if he happened to have already figured it out. She really didn't know what to expect, other than knowing that her heart was fluttering and her eyes were burning with tears as she realized how close she was to being saved. Not only that, but Ed of all people was there. He'd come back for her and he was going to save her. After all she'd been through and all the hope she'd lost. Ed was there. 

"Let's go pet." Blake snarled, giving her leash a hard yank. She somehow, managed to stand her ground. "I know you aren't considering disobeying me, do you ever want to see the light of day again?" He grabbed her ear and twisted it painfully. She let out a small squeak and turned to look at him. 

"Sir please..." She whined, "I was just thinking that maybe you...you'd want to show me off to everyone." She motioned to one of the monitors on the wall. Among the sports and other illegal gambling activities were a few monitors of very scandalous and public sex acts. She could only assume that this stuff took place here, or a lot of it did, and then it was broadcast to the rest of the station for people to watch, for whatever reason. The sex shows seemed to just be clips. Short advertisements of what could be seen if the right price was paid. 

"Really?" He asked. He sounded skeptical but she also knew that he had a massive ego and this definitely would appeal to it. "You'd behave?" 

"Yes sir." She said, "I wouldn't have a choice, and you...you like when I perform with you right?" 

"That I do." He mused and then grinned. "Alright, I'll see what I can do. Might need to get a room here. They are usually pretty booked in those arenas but, I think if you can control yourself it won't harm you to spend a night or two in a nice suite with me." 

"Thank you sir." She whispered. He patted her on the head like she was the animal he was treating her as and started to drag her off in another direction. As much as she looked around she could not find one trace of Ed. This was only because several times she made direct eye contact with him and didn't recognize him. The disguises were actually that good as long as someone didn't hear their proper voices. 

* * *

Ed saw Alara looking around, and her eyes land on him several times for brief moments but she never actually seemed to recognize it was him. Lila was rambling something in his ear but he was a bit too dazed watching Alara. She was alive, she looked like she was in good health. Not mutilated, not damaged. Her face wasn't bruised, scarred, or cut...unlike half of the people here. She was okay, at least on the outside. His heart sank when he watched her get dragged off in another direction and took a step to follow. Luckily he was tall and could keep an eye on her even if she managed to get lose him in a crowd. 

"Ed wait, what the hell?" Lila asked, finally putting an arm on him to get him to snap back into reality. He shook himself out of his daze and looked at her. 

"What? We have to follow them." He said, "Walk and talk, why didn't she recognize me?" 

"Because contrary to what you seem to think, you and Gordon have very good disguises. As long as you don't use your normal speaking voices. Hell, I couldn't pick Gordon out of this crowd." 

"She's got that right because I've been standing behind you for about five minutes trying to get your attention." Gordon said from behind Ed. Lila jumped a bit, completely not expecting that to happen. 

"Then that means we can get close, besides, I can change my voice. You all already heard that." Ed said and started walking. He wasn't going to stand around and wait when they could all talk and walk at the same time and he didn't want to lose sight of Alara or Blake. Once he could figure out definitively where they were going then he could know where and what to keep an eye out for. 

"Alara seems decently cognizant of what is going on around her and I don't think she's too psychologically shattered to remember who you are." Lila told Ed as they walked. 

"I don't know what half of those words mean." Gordon said. 

"She said Alara isn't insane." Ed explained quickly, "How did she react when you said the pickle jar thing?" 

"Her face lit up then she squinted at me. I think she was trying to figure out if I was a crew member in disguise." Lila said. 

"Alara's here? With Blake?" Gordon asked. "You just said Blake was located." 

"He was, we hadn't seen Alara yet." Ed said, "I mean it's not like he necessarily has a reason to take her off of the ship but if he does have her here then he at least believes she's trained well enough to not try to run off and escape which isn't a good sign either." 

"It's not." Lila said and pushed passed a few people who were blocking their way. Gordon was close behind her with Ed in front so in that way she was protected as much as she possibly could be. One man in front, one man behind. "Alara's smart, if she couldn't recognize you through the crowd Blake might not-" 

"He's smart too." Ed said, "Probably on par with Alara. I think that's why he finds keeping her so amusing. She's a challenge." 

"Yeah but I saw her file, for a Xeylan she's not really-" 

"Compared to a human she's incredibly intelligent. What, why does that even matter?" Ed asked sounding like he was offended. 

"I wasn't trying to call her stupid I was just saying that if she's on par with Blake he's...well he's human...right?" Lila asked. 

"Maybe this should be the point where we tell her that he's had an extensive amount of Xelayan gene therapy." Gordon said. "Probably increased his intelligence." 

"That would make sense." Ed replied. 

"So this guy is not only a genius, he's incredibly evil, and...has near super human strength?" Lila asked. "You were going to tell me this, when?" 

"I was hoping to not have to tell you but...here we are." Ed said. They followed Blake and Alara around another corner into a far less populated area of the outpost and Ed stopped them. If they followed too closely here then they had a chance of being spotted. Blake was paranoid enough, he was certainly aware of his surroundings if he didn't have any guards with him and it didn't appear he had. Considering he'd also killed a man in cold blood at random, he must have been a regular here. It meant people knew not to fuck with him. 

The signs on this corridor indicated that there were lodging rooms as well as show rooms. What type of show rooms he had no idea. He was going to find out, though. The only reason he could think for Blake to bring Alara this way was if he was planning on showing here in one of those rooms. That might be his only chance to get to her if he couldn't figure out what room they were lodging in. They were close, incredibly so and he had to remember not to get so excited that he ended up blowing it because this was probably his last and final chance to make sure he could get Alara back home with him safely. 


	19. Rebel Yell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I had a bit of fun with this chapter, I mean there's still angst and whatever but I kind of thought this would be an interesting...battle to enter into the plot and pretty realistic to the characters from what I can tell so, yeah. Hope everyone enjoys it.

> "Where did Ed go?" Lila asked coming out from the bathroom. The three of them had managed to get a room in the same hotel as Blake and Alara on the condition the agreed to perform. It seemed that payment was the performance. A sex one. Ed had assured her that it would come to that since he'd get Alara and they're all bolt before they had to. She wasn't so sure that was anywhere near true and wanted to discuss with him a way better backup plans than just going with the flow. Gordon looked up at her from the bed. He'd been watching something on the monitor across from where he was laying.

"He said he needed to take a walk to clear his head," Gordon replied in a very convincing Scottish accent. She gave him a word look because she had not been expecting that at all. "He suggested I practice changing my voice."

"Well done. However, I'm not sure it's a good idea he's out there alone." She said. She walked over to her outfit laying on the second bed and grabbed her communicator. "Ed, get your ass back to the room."

"Not on karaoke night." A reply from him shot back quickly. She turned to look at Gordon.

"He said something about karaoke night," Lila told Gordon.

"Aw man, really? Come on all him where it is and get dressed." Gordon said sitting up and reaching for his ridiculous platform boots. He was still dressed otherwise.

"Gordon..."

"He's not going to let you stay here alone and you know that. Besides it's already established you're his pet and I'm his bodyguard it would look very weird if I showed up without you." Gordon told her. She growled and put the communication back to her mouth.

"Gordon wants us to join you apparently he likes karaoke too. Should I assume that's why you didn't tell him where you were going?" She asked.

"Yeah, he'd have left you there alone. It's in the hotel bar. Lots of people here. Good audience. Already have him on the list." Ed told her. "Hurry up."

"You guys are assholes." She told him even though she meant it in the most endearing way possible. She grabbed the little bit of fabric that she was walking around in and calling clothing and headed for the bathroom so she could get dressed. As dumb as this was, maybe it would be a good way for Ed to relax since he'd been on edge for the entire time they'd been here. She wasn't opposed to him getting a few drinks and having a bit of fun. It might help them in the long run. 

* * *

> _Last night a little dancer, came dancing to my room,  
> _ _Last night a little angel came pumpin on the floor,_
> 
> _She said come here baby I got a license for love  
>  and if it expires, pray help from above..._

That was the song that Lila heard when they got into the hotel lobby. It seemed that this karaoke night was a bigger deal than Ed had indicated. The sound was being pumped clearly into the lobby and that was pretty far from the hotel bar. She looked at Gordon, whoever was singing was really good. If that was the case she certainly hoped that no one thought she was going to sing. She couldn't compete with that. 

"That's Ed," Gordon said and then grinned. 

"What? Shut the fuck up, no way." Lila whispered back. 

"Yes, way." Gordon told her, "Why do you think he likes karaoke night? He always wins." She could see a point in this now. Not only would Ed be having fun with this but he would definitely beat most, if not all, of the competition out of the water with his vocal skills. Gordon motioned to a sign that would take them to the hotel bar and as they headed closer and closer to it, the music getting louder and louder. 

* * *

Alara had absolutely no idea why she'd been dragged to this bar on karaoke night. She didn't feel much in a party mood and it reminded her too much of the same activity when they had it back on The Orville. Which made her miss the rest of her crew, her captain, all of her friends, and home. The singer that had just gotten up on the small front stage wasn't bad though. He looked weird but his voice seemed familiar for some reason. She was too far back to actually get a good look at him. Other than to see that he definitely had a tattoo on his face and frosted spiky hair, just like every other idiot pirate in here. 

Blake had gotten them a booth in the back. One that seemed like it was always reserved for him with how quickly they were whisked over there and how attentive the service had been for them. There was a drink set down in front of her. She looked away from the man who seemed more like a professional singer than a hobby one and down at the liquid in the glass. Leaning forward she sniffed it. That was definitely an alcoholic drink and a strong one at that. She looked at Blake wondering if this had been a mistake. 

"Drink it." He growled and picked up his own glass. 

"It has alcohol in it." She told him slowly. It wasn't that she couldn't hold her alcohol because she most certainly could, but he had not let her touch a drop of the stuff since she was first brought on board his ship which was why she was confused. Besides, if Ed was here she wanted to keep an eye open for him and being drunk surely wouldn't help that. 

"I told you, I should reward your good behavior, yeah?" He asked, "Drink up." She knew that if she didn't drink it, then he might think she was acting weird so she picked up the glass and took a sip. Then she smiled at him gently, hoping it didn't look too forced. He reached over and patted her on the head softly. 

"Thank you, sir." She said. 

"Think I should get on the list to sing?" He asked her. She really didn't know the answer to that. Well, she didn't know the _right_ answer to it. If she said yes it might sound like she was trying to get rid of him to be left alone. If she said no it might sound like she was insulting him and telling him that she didn't think there was any way he could sound good as a singer. Especially not after the guy currently singing. She turned to look over at him again. 

> _I walked the ward with you babe,_  
>  A thousand miles with you,   
> I dried your tears of pain  
>   
> I'd sell my soul for you, babe  
> For money to burn, for you babe  
> I'd give you all and have none babe,

"OI!" He snapped his fingers at her and she turned to look back at him again. What was it about that singer? Maybe he was a professional, but if he was, why was he here? His voice sounded so incredibly familiar and yet he looked like no one she had ever met before. It hurt her brain so she chugged a bit more of her drink. At very least it would be considerably amusing to hear Blake sing something. "Answer the question, pet." 

"Sure, why not?" She asked. "What would you sing, sir?" 

"Been looking into that Billy Idol fella, the one that Ed's little friend said I looked like a substandard version of." He said, "Know anything about the bloke?" 

"No sir," Alara replied. She knew that Ed and Gordon were very into old media, movies, music, television, most of it from the 20th century. Since she'd never heard of this Billy Idol guy, or seen him to a point where she could comment on how similar Blake looked to him then she had absolutely no opinion on the matter. 

"Right well...I do look like him. Almost exactly. When my ship took yours we got all of your data files and that included your media. Your captain seemed to like the 1980s very much." Blake said and grabbed the data pad on the table that would allow him to get his name on the list for what was actually a competition tonight. There was a cash prize. Something which only the pirates who visited this place would be interested in. Alara was aware that this was yet another thing projected on monitors that people could bet on and vote for outside to make money. "Maybe I'll sing one of his songs better than this guy." 

> _With a rebel yell, she cried more, more more,_  
>  In the midnight hour, babe, more, more, more,  
> With a rebel yell, she cried more more more,   
> More, more, more
> 
> _Oh yeah little baby,  
>  She want more,   
> More, More, More,_

"OI!" Blake shouted again and she was snapped out of it a second time. Who was this man singing? It was so passionate and well done. He seemed to have the perfect voice for it. Then she remembered what Blake had just said about singing a Billy Idol song better than the guy already singing. 

"This is a Billy Idol song?" She asked. For some reason, it was getting caught in her head, it was making her want to get up and start punching people in the face. She didn't exactly have awareness of 80s punk style or mentality but it was certainly yelling at the animal inside of her to get up and do something. Yet, she still knew better, even if she was just barely holding it back. Blake sighed and rolled his eyes. 

"Yes, I can sing Billy Idol songs, far better than this," Blake assured her. She wasn't sure how true that was. He seemed to have a far too damaged and rough smoker's voice to ever be able to produce a note that sounded good, not to mention the fact that she'd never heard him sing before. He was very confident that he could do it though and as she learned from Blake early on if he was confident he could do something he usually was right about it. "I'm going to win that money." 

"Good luck, sir," Alara said even though she really didn't care about money because she barely understood the concept of it anyway. It was such a dumb thing to her. No area that was covered by the union or it's allies operated on money and as such, her entire life, she'd had no concept of it. When she'd first learned about it on the Orville she thought it was just as weird as she thought it was here. If he wanted it, good for him, it was of no consequence to her. She just wanted to hear this man sing again. Hopefully, he'd make it into the final round. She finished her drink and there was food set on the table for them. Normal food. Not dog food. Once again it was on a plate in front of her. 

"Eat up," Blake said. Though his meal looked far nicer, she'd gotten a burger, and she couldn't have been happier. She picked it up and started to eat, knowing better than to question him on this a second time and risk a punishment. For now, things weren't that bad, but she knew there would be some serious hell to pay for everyone if Blake didn't ultimately win this stupid singing competition. 

* * *

Once Ed was off of the stage he spotted Gordon and Lila. He hadn't seen Blake in the back, or Alara, since where they were was a very dark area. It was easier for them to see Ed than it was for him to see anywhere near the back. He sat down at their table grinning like a madman because he knew how well he'd done already. The crowd in there was still cheering and the MC was trying to get them to shut the hell up to announce the next contestant. 

"Billy Idol, nice," Gordon said speaking once again with his Scottish accent. It was very passable and covered his identity more than how he'd been speaking before. Considering the only thing that anyone had heard him yell was "FUCK OFF" and it was hours ago. She doubted anyone would question why it was suddenly a different voice. They had no vantage point. 

"As I can see now, this is an actual competition," Lila said. "What's the prize." 

"50,000 of their weird space coin currency." Ed shrugged, "As I understand, that's a lot. This is the beginner's round. It'll be narrowed down to a top five very quickly, the top five sing again, then the people decide who wins." Ed said and motioned to a monitor that was built into the table top. It was interactive so he could show them the system. Not only how to vote for a contestant but also how to bet on who would be the winner. The only thing was that if you were going to bet on who was going to win, you weren't allowed to vote and if you were going to vote you weren't allowed to bet. The only way to get around this rule was to vote and bet on yourself which of course, only worked if you were actually in the competition. As it was, it appeared that Ed had an insanely large bet on himself. So far, it didn't seem like any sort of miscalculation considering that the projected odds of him winning were stupid high. 

"Okay who's Billy Idol and why..." 

"British accent, British singer from the 80s, had to stay in character, love," Ed told her. She was getting used to his English accent by that point since he had been using it so much and it sounded so natural.   

"Which 80s?" Lila asked. 

"1980s, Lass," Gordon said then laughed. He put in his drink order. "Don't think I'm going to be singing if this is a competition." 

"You're good though," Ed told him. 

"Aye, but not as good as you," Gordon said and retracted his name from the list. "You think that bet will pay off?" 

"There are a few other good people here, not going to lie, but haven't heard anyone better than me. There seems to be only three more contestants left in the first round." He leaned in and chose the list that would display the names and images of the people still to come. The last one on the list was Blake, which all of them got a glimpse of at the same time. Ed growled. "My ass that bastard can sing." 

"To be fair he can do everything else better than everyone." Gordon said, "Also, he looks and sounds like a dead ringer for Billy Idol so I mean..." 

"That's what this Billy Idol character looks like?" Lila asked. 

"You said he looked like a substandard Billy Idol on the ship," Ed argued, ignoring what Lila had to say for the moment. 

"Well duh, it was supposed to be an insult," Gordon replied. "I bet you, personally, that man can sing." 

"Alright, how much of this fake money you wanna bet?" Ed asked. 

"Guys-" 

"No, that's meaningless." He said, "I want to sleep with your therapist." 

"WOAH WOAH WOAH!" Lila said loudly, "I'm not a betting item, besides, how does that punish Ed at all?" 

"Yeah, Gordon punishes her more than it does me." Ed laughed. 

"HEY!" Gordon snapped. 

"SPIKE!" Lila yelled. This was Ed's code name, or alias, or whatever they were considering it. It was also stupid so she was surprised she managed to yell that instead of his correct name of Ed. It was stupid enough that it did get both of their attention, and as much as she didn't like that one she thought Shark was way worse, which ended up as Gordon's identity. He was oddly proud of it which was cute in its own way. "Look, if Blake is in this competition what the hell makes you think you'll win? His reputation is far better." 

"Not as a singer." Ed countered. 

"He's got you there, Angel," Gordon said. 

"Cram some chum in it, Shark." She growled. "Do you really think you stand a chance against Blake? His votes are already going up and he hasn't even sung yet." 

"Oh whatever, that's probably his crew. He isn't even near half the votes I have yet. Just keep calm and let's see what happens." He said. Lila really hated this wait and see attitude that both of them seemed to have when it came to a lot of the plans but she also didn't know anything better herself. She hadn't been through the academy like them and she didn't ever have to work her way up to Lieutenant and Captain. With as weird as these guys were, there had to be a reason they reached those ranks. It wasn't easy to sit there and just let this happen but she knew she didn't have a choice. She decided to get herself a drink instead. A strong one. 

* * *

Before Blake went up on stage, he locked her leash to something inside the booth that she couldn't see. Though she could very easily break everything here if she wanted, she knew it would be pointless. Blake, somewhere on him, always had the control to shock her and bring her down. If she started to destroy shit only to be knocked out by the shock collar she knew that there would be all sorts of hell to pay when she woke up. This was the first time that he'd taken her off the ship and she knew if she wanted to have other chances to get out then she had to be good right now. Besides, she knew Ed was there, she was positive of that. Staying calm with her eyes open was her best shot at making it out of there alive. 

The song he had chosen was called White Wedding and it was indeed a Billy Idol song, seemingly so he could compete with Spike guy who had sung a Billy Idol song before him. She honestly didn't have a clue as to how it was going to sound but she did know that Blake was going to be an insanely hard man to beat given his reputation. He shot some random guy over drugs in the vendor's hall earlier that day. Surely people either remembered he'd done that or word had gotten around by now. She'd just have to see how all of this played out. 

Since he was gone, she was able to use the display on their table to look at the contestants. There had been a woman right after Spike who had been really good, then some guy who sucked so hard he was booed off the stage while bottles were thrown at him. Blake was the last one in the lineup, had just made the cut-off. There was an image of Spike next to his name once she had tapped on it. It seemed that there was information the contestants had to enter considering the amount of prize money. 

Spike, Male, 43 years old, Human, known crimes: murder, theft, arson, forgery, hacking. That seemed pretty standard to just about everyone else here. She glanced up at the stage after Blake's name was said for his introduction. Then the music started to play. She looked back down at the screen. She enlarged the image of Spike and really studied it. She couldn't let go of this feeling that she knew him for some reason but she didn't know why. It was more so his voice than his looks but none of this made sense and she knew she had to figure it out before Blake got back to the table because he definitely wouldn't like her staring down his only real competition in all of this. 

> _Hey little sister what have you done?_  
>  Hey little sister who's your only one?  
> Hey little sister who's your superman?  
> Hey little sister who's the one you want?

She looked up, in quite a bit of shock. _That was Blake?_ No fucking way he had to be cheating somehow. He was good, really good. So far not better than this Spike guy but this was merely the intro to the song. Obviously, something meant to be a bit slower to build up to the heavy rock part, as she assumed with the previous song being so heavily rock that this Billy Idol guy only did music along those lines. Blake's votes started to rise. All she could hope was that he ultimately won this because if he didn't, she knew she was going to be the one paying the price later. 

* * *

> _It's a nice day to start again,  
> _ _It's a nice day for a white wedding  
>  It's a nice day to start again_

Ed, Gordon, and Lila were all just staring at the stage. Not only could Blake sing but he apparently was an incredible showman. He looked like he was actually giving a concert or somehow channeling Billy Idol. Ed had been well aware before this moment that Blake was good at almost anything he set his mind to but he was hoping that it wouldn't be this. Yet, here they were. He was really going to have to pick it up quite a bit with his next performance as the votes already denoted he'd be in the top five and there would be very little room for that to change since voting closed only a few minutes after Blake would finish. 

"Welp, you're screwed." Gordon said, putting a hand on Ed's arm gently, "I mean I don't think you can beat that. He'll get votes on talent alone, then he'll get the intimidation vote so I mean-" 

"I'm not going to let him defeat me again." Ed snarled. 

"Pick your battles, Ed, come on." Lila urged him. 

"This is a battle, I'm picking it, and I'm going to beat that asshole out of the water. In the meantime, one of you needs to figure out where Alara is. This actually would be a good chance to get her out of here. The next time he goes up to sing, someone grabs her." Ed said. 

"Now that's the first decent plan I've heard all fucking night," Lila said and finished her drink. Especially since depending on the songs sang they would probably have a good five to ten minutes to get Alara and drag her out of there. That was if she could be convinced that they were from the Orville and on her side. "Except, she still has that collar on." 

"Fuck..." Ed said. He knew he hadn't exactly explained the collar but there was no reason Lila wouldn't have seen it at that point and figured out that it certainly did something to control Alara's behavior. "Right, still, go ahead with the plan I'll see what I can do to take care of that." 

"You better because the last thing we need is for him to shock her into a heart attack," Lila said. "Especially here, where we'd be lucky to find any sort of medical help that was legitimate outside of what I know about medicine." 

"Lila, Gordon, start walking around the bar like you are looking around for something I don't know, the bathroom," Ed said. 

"It's right over there." Gordon motioned vaguely with his hand. 

"Great, pretend you are too drunk to notice that and try to find someone who will tell you. It'll give you an excuse to look for Alara." Ed insisted. 

"Ohhh right, I get ya," Gordon replied and winked. Ed rolled his eyes. He probably shouldn't have let Gordon start drinking. Especially considering he'd already had a few drinks himself. He looked at Lila. Her drink count was only at one. 

"Keep an eye on him while you are out there looking. Please?" Ed urged her. 

"Yeah, no problem," Lila said and stood up. "Come on, Shark." He chuckled and stood up, putting his arm around her and pulling her close. She hated to admit that Gordon was really starting to grow on her in some strange way. If they made it out of there alive she was going to have to ask him on at least one date. She felt she might owe him that much. As for Ed, it was quite clear who his heart truly belonged to and it wasn't her. 

* * *

Alara was still attempting to figure out why she felt she knew this Spike person when she heard a crash and some glasses shattering. She looked up and turned her head to see that some shaggy-haired idiot had just stumbled into a table nearly knocking it over. She had no idea who he was but the girl on the leash with him was Angel. The one she'd talked to before. Blake was still on stage so this was probably her chance to talk to the woman again even if the conversation would probably only last a few moments. 

"ANGEL!" She called. The woman looked over in her direction and put her hand on the shaggy-haired man's arm then pointed that way. He looked over there. Alara noticed that one of his eyes was frosted over and his face was pretty scarred. Not to mention all of the metal studs and rings he had in it. Sadly, she was getting used to people looking that way since the vast majority of the crew she did get to interact with looked like that every day. It wasn't typical to anyone in the Union though. Mostly because they had far better health care and there wasn't a need to walk around with fucked up eyes or visible scars. 

Once the got to the table she motioned for them to sit. Angel looked at her and then looked at the guy who had her on the leash. He basically shoved her into the booth so she was forced to sit and then he sat down next to her. 

"Uh...is this your Master?" Alara asked slowly. Something about this guy seemed familiar too but she had no idea why. 

"No....he's my Master's guard." She said. "Master is preparing to be in the competition he'll probably make the final round." 

"Oh." Alara said, "Your Master is Spike then?" 

"Yes," Angel replied. 

"And he's the one who needed you to open a jar of pickles?" She asked. This caused the man sitting with her to laugh but then quickly shut himself up and go back to looking serious. "GORDON?" She said loudly, as she instantly figured it out. 

"SHHHHH!" Gordon warned her. 

"Oh my God, Spike is Ed..." She whispered. 

"Yes, but keep it to yourself." Lila urged. 

"Wait then who are you? Kelly?" Alara asked her. 

"No," Lila said and looked at Gordon. "It's not legal for me to tell you who I am but it's also not legal for us to be here doing this so I suppose it doesn't matter. I'm Ed's psychiatrist." 

"Woah...and you let him do this?" 

"Honey, he was going to do this if she let him or not," Gordon said but still used his Scottish accent. 

"Nice accent." She said, "Okay so, why didn't Ed just come over here?" 

"I actually don't know why." Lila said, "I think because the plan is to get you out of here during the final round when they are all on stage he wouldn't be able to do that." 

"Okay but two problems. The collar, and the leash, and-" 

"Can't you just yank the leash right off of your neck?" Gordon asked her. "I mean that chain will snap super easy if you do it." Alara stared at him like she had just had some revelation. He was right about that, of course, but it kind of burned her to know she could be doing that and could have done it all along and yet she was just sitting here doing nothing waiting for Blake to get back? What had he done to her? How badly had this seeped into her despite her thinking she was fine? 

"Right..." 

"Alara, it's okay...you've been through a lot and it's understandable that you haven't just run off in a mad dash for freedom right now. No one is judging you for it." Lila informed her when she realized how utterly depressed Alara looked when she had that revelation. 

"I know but it's...I don't like it." She whispered. 

"It can all be reversed. When Blake gets back up on that stage, we will be back here. Ed will have to stick around as a distraction until the winners are announced, it'll give us more time to figure out how to get you to safety and most importantly, remove that collar." Lila told her. 

> _There's nothing fair in this world,_  
>  There's nothing safe in this world,  
> And there's nothing sure in this world,  
> And there's nothing pure in this world,  
> Look for something left in this world,
> 
> _START AGAIN_

There was absolutely no denying the power of Blake's singing voice. The only person she heard that night who could possibly rival it was Ed's voice and yet she still didn't believe that Ed could beat him. Mostly because Blake had far too much in his favor. That being his reputation. This woman and Gordon were right...this was the time to make a move and she was going to have to get over her fears and make a run for it. 

"Where's the rest of the crew?" She asked Gordon. 

"Yeah we didn't exactly do this with there permission and I'm sure you can figure out why." He said. She definitely could. It was because all of this was super illegal and both Gordon and Ed were now risking everything just to get her back. On the plus side, it had worked far better than it would have worked had they tried to wait around and do it by the book, but there was no telling what could happen to them when they got back. What would happen to them? The good news was that neither of them seemed to be acting as agents of the Planetary Union, or represent themselves as such. If they did this as civilians the penalty should be far less harsh, in theory. They were going to at very least be facing some heavy disciplinary action. If she didn't go along with this now then it would all be for nothing. 

"Okay." She said, "Come get me when Blake goes back on stage for the showdown. I'll be ready." 

"Good," Gordon said and stood up. 

"We'll see you shortly. It's going to be okay." Lila told her. As the two of them walked away, Alara realized she still didn't know the woman's name but Angel seemed the most appropriate fit in the moment because it appeared she was at very least some of the glue keeping this whole plan together. 


	20. A Demon's Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is fairly graphic torture in this chapter so just be warned for that.

"Alright, everything is set to go," Gordon said as they sat back down at Ed's table. They'd gotten out of Alara's booth just in time too. Lila had noticed Blake enter the booth just as they were a few feet away. It didn't appear that he noticed them either, he was too focused on the competition at hand. Ed seemed to be the same way considering he didn't even look at them as they sat. His eyes had followed Blake from the stage over to where he was sitting and he could just barely make Alara out in the booth as he pulled her close, putting his arm around her possessively. "Hello...Orville to Spike." Gordon snapped his fingers in front of Ed's face. 

"Stop that." Ed snapped and slapped his hand away. He blinked a few times and then finally turned to look at the two of them. "What if I just shoot him right now? Right in the dick." 

"That's not going to solve anything and I doubt we'd get out of here alive considering how many more people he'd have on our side than well...us. It's three against I don't know, everyone in this room right now? And I can't even fight." Lila pointed out. 

"She does have a point," Gordon said and pressed the button to order himself another beer. 

"Don't get shit faced before doing this." Ed warned him, "That won't help anything, I'll drink that beer you get something without alcohol." 

"Dude!" 

"Dude nothing," Ed told him and ordered the closest thing to coffee he could find on the menu for Gordon. This got him a glare but it didn't get him any more mouthing off. The votes started to tally up moments later and a list of the top five was generated. It was in order according to most votes and Ed was the first one on the list. He grinned and pointed at the results. "Still got more votes than him." 

"For now," Lila said. "You better hope your next song really blows them away, especially with that money you bet. We didn't even replicate that much." 

"It won't matter." Ed said, "Just get Alara to the ship and if you have to leave without me, leave without me." 

"Ed," Gordon said. 

"That's an order." Ed insisted. 

"You aren't acting captain." Gordon said, "We aren't leaving without you, Alara or not." 

"Listen to me very carefully, Alara is getting out of here...period. If that's at the cost of my safety or life, so be it. This is why I'm here. Now, I don't blame either of you for bailing on me but don't fucking risk her life to do it. Got that?" He insisted. Gordon looked over at Lila who shrugged. She was thinking it was just better to agree with him on this even if it was a lie and she hoped Gordon understood that was the case as well. 

"Fine." Gordon said, "But we aren't leaving unless we absolutely have to because there are no more options. You got that?" 

"Fine." Ed said, "Now if you excuse me, I'll have to think of another song to sing. Going to have to get back up there. Apparently, we all have to be on stage while the others perform, which should give you plenty of time to get Alara out. Don't mess this up." He got up and headed for the stage area. 

"Is it just me or is this a really dumb thing we are letting him do?" Gordon asked. 

"No, it's stupid, but I suppose that it's better than him wanting to murder Blake," Lila said, her eyes following Ed to the stage. The other five joined him shortly as well, including Blake, who at that point was only a few feet away from him. "Let's hope Blake doesn't see through his disguise as easily as Alara saw through yours." 

"I think that has more to do with your failure to know how to act than your disguise. Ed seems pretty in character." Lila said, "Right down to the accent." 

"Well...fair enough but shut up." He said and then sulked for a moment. 

"Come on." Lila said, "If we are going to do this we need to do this now." She stood up and grabbed his arm yanking on it to get him to stand up. 

* * *

Alara nervously searched the room for Gordon and that other woman to come back. She was lucky that Blake seemed so hellbent on beating the guy he didn't know was Ed or else she might not have been easily left alone a second time. From what she could tell the stage lighting was bright so it wouldn't be able to see the booth from there or see what she was doing, who she was with. Just as the MC was announcing some of the rules, Angel and Gordon slipped into her booth. 

"Break the chain," Gordon whispered to her. She nodded and put her hands on it. Then she froze up. She couldn't do it, she looked at him and shook her head. Even though she could clearly see Blake wasn't there and also couldn't be aware of anything she was doing, her body was rebelling. It was afraid of the shock that would hit her if she disobeyed. Weeks of conditioning like that really messed with a person. "Alara you can do this, Blake isn't going to find out. He's too busy right now." 

"I can't." She said, "I'm...I'm trying." 

"You obviously aren't try-" 

"Gordon shut up," Angel said and shoved him out of the way. She covered Alara's hand with her own and gave it a squeeze. "I know you are scared. I also know you are cognizant of what is happening here. There has to be something in your mind that you kept back there that promised you when you had the chance you'd take it, or else you'd have given up a long time ago. This is your chance. It's just breaking a chain, it's not hurting Blake or his crew or disobeying orders. Did he tell you not to break the chain?" 

"No..." 

"Good, so breaking it well...it's not against his rules is it?" 

"But..."

"Did he tell you to not break this chain?" She repeated. Alara shook her head. He hadn't said that, specifically. It was certainly implied but he had not ordered her to not break the chain and not get up. He hadn't even said 'stay there' because it was implied but it wasn't an order. He hadn't told her not to do this so it wasn't a rule anymore. Her hand clamped down tighter and in a very quick twist, the chain broke. She gasped and then winced immediately, cowering, because she expected a shock. Nothing happened. It didn't happen because it wasn't a rule. She opened her eyes and looked at Angel. "Good, let's get out of here." 

"Wow, you're like a genius with this psychiatry stuff," Gordon told her. 

"Maybe that's because she's a psychiatrist," Alara told him and slid out of the booth. Angel and Gordon were right behind her. As quickly and inconspicuously as they could, they started to make their way out of the bar, staying in the darkest parts to avoid being spotted by Blake. 

* * *

What Alara had assumed to be true was right. Ed couldn't see anything from the stage. He'd eventually lost track of where Gordon and Lila were and he didn't get one glimpse of Alara. It was both a good and bad thing. In that way, he'd never know if they made it out of there safe or not. The only thing he could do was keep Blake on stage as long as humanly possible so that gave all of them enough time to get out while they had it. 

"As winner of the top five with the most votes, Spike gets to pick the lineup." The MC finally said and motioned to Ed. He was barely aware this was being said considering him and Blake were in some massive staring competition. "Uh, Spike?" 

"Right yes..." Ed said and cleared his throat. "Uh, you...you go first." He said pointing to some woman. His plan was to get Blake to go last and he would go second to last. That would ensure that Blake stayed on the stage as long as possible without any good excuse to leave. "She's next, then that bloke, then me, then this arsehole right here." The last one he motioned to was Blake. 

"Last or first, doesn't matter, I'm winnin this thing." Blake told him. 

"I already won the first round, bitch," Ed growled getting closer to him. Blake sneered and growled, Ed did the same. The MC stepped between them. 

"Hey, dudes, this is karaoke night, settle it in the arena." He snapped at them. Ed wasn't sure why pirates of all people were taking a competition like this so seriously but he decided it was just better to back down. He stepped back and sat in one of the chairs on the stage and waited. Blake sat down next to him, periodically turning his head to glare. Ed clenched his jaw, trying to resist the temptation to cause any sort of scene until he could be absolutely sure Gordon and Lila got Alara out of there.

* * *

Once they had made it out of the general hotel area things got a lot quieter. Though the rest of the outpost still had pirates milling through it, since it was late it was fairly empty and easier to walk. Alara was between Angel and Gordon and they were all staying as close together as possible to make sure nothing happened to her as they got back to the ship.  She kept turning around to look behind her to make sure they hadn't been noticed and weren't being followed. things seemed completely until the moment she turned and Angel just wasn't there. She put her hand on Gordon's arm. 

"Wait," She told him. "Where's Angel?" 

"Who?" Gordon asked, "Oh right yeah...uh...crap...." 

"Crap is right," Alara whispered. 

"Look, we are getting you to the ship that's the most important thing here," Gordon said. 

"But she-" 

"But nothing." He replied and took her arm, "Alara, you aren't exactly in the condition to fight and Blake can bring you down with one button. Do you think it's wise to double back? I will go back and look for her the moment that we get you on the ship." Alara looked at him. She hated to admit that he had a point and she felt even worse that she agreed with him and wanted to get to the ship. She was not in any position to fight anyone and even if the collar wasn't on her it seemed that she'd been deeply conditioned into basically doing nothing but following orders. Her being there would just be a hindrance and that meant doing what Gordon wanted her to do. 

"You promise you'll go back for her?" She asked. 

"I swear." He said, "She's probably the only chance I have of getting laid once this is all over, you know before me and Ed are sent to prison...so..." 

"Right." She rolled her eyes and put what remained of the leash in his hand. "Just hold this so if I go missing you'll notice." 

"Good idea." He said and started to head off, moving faster than he had before. There was no telling who took Lila or where they took her to. He definitely felt like he had a thing with her, maybe. He couldn't tell. What he did know was that it was rare any woman paid that much attention to him, especially one of her level of attractiveness. Besides, underneath all of that, he did like her as a human being. She was amazing for doing all of this with them and she definitely deserved someone coming back for her. Ed had said that they all needed to get out of there even if that meant leaving him behind and he was going to stand by that as much as he could. 

* * *

Ed was still glaring at Blake while the second contestant was singing. It was some song he'd never heard in his life in some alien language so it was hard to pay attention. To be fair, it was very well sung and he was sure he would have paid attention if this situation wasn't so incredibly weird and dangerous. He saw Blake put a hand to his ear and turn his head away. Ed perked up a bit, Blake was definitely getting a message of some type through a communicator. One that Ed couldn't hear. Blake got up and walked over to the MC. They talked for a moment. Ed saw the MC shaking his head when Blake pulled his gun and shoved it in the guy's face. The guy smiled nervously and motioned to the exit. 

"Don't worry, Spike, I just need to take a piss before I beat the piss out of you," Blake told him before heading off of the stage. Shit. Well, the good news was it seemed he still intended to come back to do this competition but the bad news was that Ed had no damn clue where he was going in the meantime. He sat there for a moment, his eyes following Blake until he vanished into a dark area. Once he was sure of where Blake went he walked over to the MC himself. Since they were on the second contestant there was still one more there that would sing before Blake had to be on stage. It was a narrow window of time to do whatever he was intending to do so Blake couldn't have gone far. 

"Where'd he go? He's not quitting is he?" Ed demanded, "There's a lot of fucking money on the line here and I don't do well with cowards." 

"Said his ship had an emergency he needed to take care of." The MC replied. "All contestants need to stay here unless-" Ed didn't have time for this and seeing as how all Blake had to do was shove a gun in this guy's face to get special privileges he decided to do the same thing. He removed the gun from the holster and put it to the MC's head. "Right...but if you're not back by your part of the competition you forfeit." 

"Don't worry," Ed assured him and headed out in the same direction as Blake had gone. As weird as all of this was, Blake seemed like the type to actually want to beat him at a stupid singing competition. That and he'd looked right in his face and didn't seem to pick up on his real identity. It actually was about winning karaoke night against some random pirate, at least it was for now. As stupid as it seemed, he knew his best bet was to show back up in time for his song. Even if Blake didn't, he'd surely win if Blake walked out and he'd neglected to tell Lila and Gordon that was kind of a huge part of his plan. It was just such a risky part that he didn't want them to know about it. 

* * *

"Where is she?" The man who grabbed her demanded. She was now in a room, somewhere. Looked like a hotel room. She'd been knocked out and dragged there and considering how her heart was pounding now, she'd definitely also been revived with some type of amphetamine. She stared at the guy who backhanded her a second time. She cried out in pain but since she was chained to the chair they'd sat her in she couldn't do much to defend herself. 

"Where is who?" She asked she could barely remember her own name in the moment, let alone who this man was asking for. At some point when she'd been headed toward the ship with Alara and Gordon, they'd gotten her. She was vaguely aware these had to be pirates from Blake's ship. Her only failing had been to pause for a moment and let them get ahead of her to attempt to contact Ed to let him know that they had made it out of the hotel and were headed for the ship. As she had stopped to do that, they had vanished into the crowd and it was probably the point that she was spotted and grabbed. 

"The Xelayan." The man growled. 

"Probably on Xelaya." She replied even though that definitely alerted her to what this man wanted. She was struck again, her lip split open. She had never been assaulted like this in her damn life and it was painful. They were only going to get worse too. The one thing she had going for her was that she was stubborn but she wasn't nearly as trained as people like Ed and his crew so she knew it was a matter of time before she told the truth. Right now, she felt she was okay. That was until the door opened and Blake stepped in there. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw him. 

"That the one?" He asked the guy who had been hitting her moments earlier. 

"Yes, sir." He replied. Blake's head turned slowly and he glared at her in such a terrifying way she ended up losing all rational thought as well as control of her bladder. This guy was going to put her through the ringer and she wasn't sure she wanted to face that in order to get Alara and Gordon safely back to the ship. He stepped towards her and looked her over. 

"Well, I can see someone's properly terrified of me. That's certainly a start." He said, then grinned and leaned in to look her in the eye. She tried to move back, but it wasn't working because of how she was restrained. She shook her head. 

_Don't tell him anything...don't tell him anything...Ed knows you are here and Ed will get you out of here just keep your mouth shut. It'll be an hour at most._

"What is your name, slut?" He asked, running his hand over her cheek gently. She swallowed hard and clenched her jaw tightly. "I asked you a question and you'll soon find that I do not like repeating myself." 

_Don't answer him. No matter what he does don't answer him._

Blake snapped his fingers and held out his hand towards the man who had been hitting her before. The guy got something out of his pocket. He pushed it into her neck and pressed a button on it. Quite possibly the worst electric shock she'd ever felt in her life shook through her body. Her mouth opened to scream but no sound came out, it knocked the air right out of her lungs. After what seemed like an eternity he stopped and stepped back. 

"What is your fucking name?" He asked again. 

"An-Angel..." She panted. He looked her over and noticed the bracelet on her wrist. He released that wrist from the restraints and brought it up to his line of vision. He paused for a moment and motioned to one of the guys to come over. He stepped up and Blake held her wrist out to him. 

"Hold this near her mouth." He said and moved behind her. She was still reeling from the pain of that shock so she didn't do much to try to stop him, even if she was wondering what the hell this was about. The man did as he was told and she felt fingers on her neck, traveling over the skin roughly. She was dimly aware he was looking for a pressure point. 

"No..." She whispered, but it didn't matter. He pinched a nerve in her neck and that did make her scream, and loudly, like she was being murdered. "PLEASE STOP IT!" 

* * *

Ed was stopped dead in his tracks when Lila's screams filled his ears. He stumbled back into the wall and closed his eyes. What had he done? What was he doing here? Why had he gotten her into this? Gordon could handle it, he could handle it, but she wasn't anywhere near a trained officer and she was being tortured. His vision went hazy for a moment and started to tunnel. In his excitement to save Alara he'd done it all over again to another woman, one far less capable of handling the nightmare that was Blake. There were more screams, begging for him to leave her alone. He could hear Blake's voice on and off demanding to know who she was and what she had done with Alara and yet, by some miracle she wasn't telling him. She just kept playing stupid and saying she didn't know anything. 

He took a few slow, deep breaths, trying to clear his head. He didn't know what he was supposed to do here. Blake had a limited amount of time if he actually wanted to make it back to the competition and he knew that as well. He rubbed his face and looked up at the monitors on the wall. The third singer was nearly finished with his song. Mouth dry and heart pounding he doubled back to the competition hall and ordered the bartender to give him two shots of tequila which he downed quickly before stumbling back onto stage and getting in the chair. By the time Blake came into the room, he'd pulled himself together enough to look like nothing had happened, at all. 

"Where are you, Lila? Say something, anything, why the fuck isn't Gordon there?" He hissed into his communicator quickly. Except, he didn't expect an answer of any sort, and wasn't surprised that he didn't get one. The last thing he managed to hear from her was tortured moans and nearly incoherent pleas for mercy before there was silence again. He growled softly and tried again. "Gordon, find Lila, now, she's being tortured and Blake is back here with me, you have about ten minutes." 

* * *

"That's all well and good, Ed, but I'm back at the ship with Alara." Gordon snapped into his communicator. "I heard it too, you know. Her communicator is voice activated." 

"Heard what? What did you hear?" Alara asked. They were on the ship, he'd taken her to the sleeping cabin and told her to just lay down. 

"Nothing." He snapped at her. 

"Don't take that tone with me, you aren't Blake and I'm pretty sure I'll still kick your ass," Alara warned him. 

"Lila's being tortured. That's why I winced in the hall when you asked me what was wrong." He informed her. 

"Lila?" Alara asked then shook her head as she realized that he meant Angel. Apparently, her real name was Lila, "We have to help her." 

"We?" He asked, "No, I do, you need to stay here." 

"Gordon, you can't go there alone. You'll be outnumbered!" Alara insisted. He knew that was true too but she would be basically worthless trying to fight anyone on Blake's crew. Dead weight. Though he didn't like knowing that or admitting it to himself he had to be realistic here. 

"You can't attack them, you'll freeze up and get yourself captured all over again. Besides, it's only a matter of time before that asshole shocks you again. Stay here, do not move." He told her and rushed out of there quickly. Alara grumbled under her breath but she did stay where she was told. In the long run, she knew what he was saying was true and she hated herself for it as much as she was sure he hated having to remind her of that because otherwise, she would have been their best asset but now? She was nothing, and there wasn't much she could do to change that either. 

 


	21. Shocked

There is a soundtrack/Fan Mix to go along with this story if you are interested. It follows the theme of the story and was inspiration for a lot of it.  
[[LINK](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJMtr7hOS0PP1HhFWHP4Po3j609sYBWjE)]

* * *

 

At some point, Lila had blacked out. When she came to, the two men in the room who had been trying to get information out of her before were watching a monitor with the competition going on. Either because they'd been ordered to or they were actually into it. As weird as it was, she also supposed that everyone here was extremely competitive no matter what the competition actually was so it kind of made sense that they took even karaoke so seriously. At very least it gave her some respite from the torture she was being put through because she was absolutely positive she couldn't take anymore. They didn't seem to notice she was awake or that her one hand still wasn't restrained. The one with the communicator on her wrist. 

Slowly, she moved her wrist towards her mouth, as she eyed the guys who seemed too concerned with whatever song Blake was singing to pay attention to what she was doing. If she could just get a few words to Gordon, even just her general location she figured it might help. She knew she was still in the hotel area and definitely in a hotel room. Which one, she had no idea, but given its size, it had to be a suite and more than likely the room that Blake had gotten for himself. 

"Shark, I'm in the hotel, one of the suites." She whispered into the communicator. The only reason she didn't say anything to Ed was she knew he couldn't do anything and so she could only assume that the person looking for her would be Gordon. If not, then she was completely fucked but doing that was better than doing nothing. She quickly let her arm drop after that and made herself appear limp again so if the guys looked over at her they wouldn't think she did anything. They didn't look away from the screen at any point as far as she could tell so she let her eyes open to watch what was going on over at that end. At least she could see Ed behind Blake on the monitor which was slightly more comforting than she thought it would be. 

* * *

"Hotel suite," Gordon muttered. He supposed the good news was that there couldn't have been too many of those. The hotel was big, but so were most hotels, general rooms would probably be more affordable or in demand considering people had to pay actual currency to stay here, even if it was on the condition they were going to perform in that weird sex arena. He would just need to figure out what floor the suites were on, or floors, and start making his way to each one to see if he could figure out where Lila was being kept. 

He had a few weapons with him and though he was aware he was going to be outnumbered once he got to her he imagined it probably wouldn't be more than two to three guards at most. He was going to have to kill them, most likely, a thought that didn't settle well in his stomach but it would be survival of the fittest here and if he could get the drop on them then that was what he'd have to do. None of these places seemed to have any sort of weapon that would stun anyone. They were all ancient guns with actual bullets. From what he knew, wounds like that weren't always fatal but they were more often fatal than not, and here where the medical treatment seemed archaic he couldn't imagine that being shot was super survivable. Not like back where they were from. 

Once he was back in the hotel he started to look around for some type of key card or master key so he could get into rooms if he needed to. Since everyone in this hotel was so dead set on watching the karaoke competition it was easy enough to grab a master key from behind the front desk and hurry off with it. His time was running short because Blake had just finished his stupid song and that meant Ed was next. Luckily, it didn't seem like Blake wanted to leave for Ed performance with how he was glaring at him so Gordon rushed off to the elevators to attempt to find where Lila was being kept. 

* * *

Alara felt absolutely useless just sitting on the ship, knowing that Lila was being tortured and Gordon was out there alone. Even if he wasn't quite a wimp he wasn't the toughest guy ever. She was their head of security when they were on The Orville and for good reason. Now she'd been programmed into submission because of the stupid collar on her neck and the repeated abuse she'd suffered when she disobeyed and order from Blake. Well, right now, he wasn't here and as far as she was aware he didn't know where she was. If he'd taken Lila, or his crew had, then he definitely knew something was up and she was missing but if anyone knew where she actually was then they'd have come and gotten her and so far, so good. 

She got up and started to go through the computers. It took a bit of prying and some hacking since there were passwords to get through, but she managed to find a disguise. Something that would cover her face enough that she'd look like she might be human. She changed her hair color to blond and her eye color as well. Scars and tattoos covered the parts of her face that her hair and hat didn't. She also dressed the part with leather pants, platform boots, and a black crop top. She figured out how to replicate some currency and added plenty of tacky metal jewelry and chains, taking a communicator with her, before stepping back out of the ship. Screw Gordon and his orders to stay put. She may not have been able to fight but there were plenty of other helpful things she could be doing that had nothing to do with violence and she was going to do them. 

She walked down the hall confidently, pretty much being ignored, until she got to a vendor where she was able to buy herself a weapon. It was only then did she head back to the hotel. The good news was that due to her size she was able to sneak around better and this eventually enabled her to get into a security room. She started to go through the computer system, which was far less advanced than the one on the ship and she soon found that due to the lack of technological advances on their computers she wasn't going to be able to hack anything. The one thing she could do was look at the guest registry. She found Spike and Shark's room easily enough, and Blake's, but she already knew where Blake's room was because she'd been staying in it. 

She'd been hoping to get more done than just finding information she already knew, but it ended up being a waste of time. The only thing she found that she figured might eventually be useful was the code for the emergency exits to get them open without triggering an alarm. When she heard someone coming she slipped into one of the vents next to the desk she was at and started to crawl through it after closing the grating behind her. She crawled along the ducts, climbing and jumping down when she needed to until she was over the bar area of the hotel, looking out through the metal grate above the crowd. Blake was there, along with Ed and the other three contestants, she wondered if she might be able to get a shot off at Blake from that vantage point but still found that she couldn't quite bring herself to risk it. Not with the collar on. Gordon was right, she really was useless. 

 _When you walk alone_  
_You're not on your own_  
_If you realize, what's behind my eyes..._

Once again she was caught by the lyrics being sung and Ed's perfectly passionate voice. She didn't know if he'd chosen this song for a specific reason or just because he could sing it well. To be fair, he could sing every song well. She couldn't imagine a song that he'd be bad at singing. It was a talent he possessed that few people seemed to know about. That was until tonight, of course, and now she was captivated by it. Especially this song, whatever it was. There was something about it, almost as if he was singing it for her, or right to her. There was no doubt in her mind that he was worried about her as well which may have influenced the choice of the song. 

 _So please understand,_  
_I'm holding your hand,_  
_I'm leading your blind,_  
_Inside my mind..._

She forced herself to snap out of the daze. As much as she wanted to stay and listen to this incredibly meaningful song, she knew her better option was to keep on moving. If she couldn't take a shot a Blake from here then she was going to need to find a way to help Gordon instead. She crawled down the vent to an area where the music was much more faint, even if she could still hear it in the background. 

 _Nothing to fear, nothing to fear,_  
_I'm making it clear, that I am not afraid_

"Gordon." She said softly, "Blake's room is on the top floor, it's one of the penthouse suites. There are two, I think. I can't remember the one we were in but they are right across from each other." 

"Alara?" He replied back. 

"Yes, you idiot, who else would it be?" 

"I have the master key I'm nearing the suites now." He said, "How did you know?" 

"I figured it out." She replied, "Are you armed? Those guards aren't going to let her go without some sort of fight." 

"Yes, I'm armed." He responded, "Really don't like the idea of having to kill people though." 

"Understandable but it's them or it's you, or Lila. Make a choice." Alara replied, "Whatever you do, no one here is going to think less of you for it." 

"Noted." He replied. She stayed where she was in the vent for a moment longer before crawling on. Even if she feared that she was going to be useless meeting up with him and getting to that room she also feared that if she wasn't there something would go horribly wrong. She'd get out of the vents, find a way to the elevators, and make sure that she got there as soon as possible. If anything, she knew she could provide a distraction and since she looked completely opposite of how she normally did there was a good chance they wouldn't even know it was her. 

 _Nothing to fear, you've faced the new frontier_  
_So sound the all clear, there's nothing to fear_  
_But fear itself._

* * *

Ed could hear all the chatter on his communicator as he sang and he nearly screwed up entirely when he heard Alara talking. He had yet to hear her say anything and it felt like years since he'd heard her voice. It did end up making his song better because the performance got incredibly more emotional as he tried to focus on the task at hand. Now that he was sitting down and the votes were tallying he had to compose himself. He could feel Blake's eyes on him like burning fire. He still didn't think he'd been made though. Blake just seemed to have him over the sheer fact he thought a stranger was about to beat him in a singing contest.

He looked at Blake and grinned confidently keeping up the persona he had to in order to not make himself look anywhere near suspicious. Blake's face narrowed and he got up shoving the guy next to him or if his chair so he could sit next to Ed. The other guy was small and didn't protest this alpha male move at all. It was painfully irritating how much power Blake had here.

"Where'd you learn to sing like that?" He asked like he was trying to make casual conversation. Maybe he'd decided that if he couldn't beat him he'd join him. That would only be useful in the way that it would get Ed on his ship which was the risky part of the plan he wasn't going to be informing Lila or Gordon about. It was a very large part of the revenge he wanted to take on Blake and why he'd told the others to leave without him.

"Didn't." He said and slowly looked at Blake. "Always just could. Names Spike." He held his hand out like he wanted to share Blake's. Blake eyed him for a moment before taking it and shaking it firmly.

"Not seen you around before. I'm Blake. You have a promising record. Need a crew?"

"You recruiting?" He asked.

"For the right man possibly. Think you might qualify. You'd be stupid to turn down an offer from me though." He said. Ed knew he was right about that considering that Blake was basically a God in this lawless area of Space. It was also probably considered an honor to the other outlaws. He'd made his fake record vicious but not unbelievable something he hoped would attract Blake. 

"You left earlier. Havin troubles?" Ed asked him. 

"Minor inconveniences," Blake said like it wasn't a big deal. It actually may not have been something he considered a big deal. As far as he knew he had someone captured who knew information and he probably figured it was only a matter of time before he got it out of her. Luckily, Lila hadn't said either his name or Gordon's, code or otherwise. She just kept playing stupid. He was going to owe her big after this, whatever he was able to do for her, he would. He already knew he was getting her out of here alive first and foremost. "How good are you at interrogation?" 

Ed arched an eyebrow. Blake really didn't have any idea who he was. Except, the answer to this question was a double-edged sword. If he said he was good at it then he would surely be taken to Lila which would mean he'd have no option other to hurt her at least a little bit to get the point across that he was good at interrogating people. If he said he wasn't, he would lose his chance to get to Lila. He didn't think he'd exactly forfeit the offer to be on Blake's crew but he might look less valuable. 

"My tactics are quite admirable. Can usually get information from anyone in five minutes or less. If they actually know something, yeah?" He replied. 

"Think she might know something." Blake said, "It's debatable given that I also think she's a slave girl so she might also know jack shit." 

"What seems to be the problem?" 

"Think one of my slaves was stolen. She's a valuable piece of ass. Took forever to train, sure you know the feeling, right?" He asked then chuckled. Ed did not like hearing Alara talked about that way but all he could do was play along. He laughed. 

"Yeah but it's so much more rewarding when you break a stubborn bitch." Ed replied, "Understandable, put so much time and energy into a cunt to get her snatched up. It'd certainly have me pissed." 

"No doubt." Blake said, "After the winners are announced, how bout you come with me to give this broad a once over. See if we can't get her to talk." 

"Sounds easy enough, no intention of kicking my ass if I beat you?" 

"No hard feelings, may the best man win," Blake said and sat back in his chair looking smug with himself. Ed really didn't know what his angle was other than the fact that if he did get Ed on his crew after this point he'd be sitting on a lot of money, potentially. If he looked like an asset, Blake had to be thinking if he buttered him up then he could only benefit double. He'd have a great new crewman and he'd have access to the money, or at least ways to manipulate it into his own pocket. Since Ed didn't care about money he didn't give a shit how much Blake wanted or how much he had to give. He didn't plan to stay any longer than he absolutely had to. 

"Votes closing in ten seconds." The MC announced. Ed looked up to one of the monitors. It seemed like he was in a dead-heat with Blake and everyone else was certainly counted out now. It was inevitable, one of them was going to win it was just a race to the finish now to see who was better than who. Ed hoped that Blake really was trying to be a gentleman about this, maybe something in him already knew he lost so he was trying to twist the second place title in his favor. He rubbed his hands over his thighs and leaned forward. The seconds ticked down. 

_5...4...3...2...1...._

The screen faded to black, and a split second later he saw his name and image come up as winner. Not only that, but his winnings were right next to his name, because it had already taken his bet into account. By pirate standards he was now a goddamn millionaire. Cheers rang out over the bar area and he stood up. 

"ROUND OF DRINKS FOR EVERYONE IN HERE! MAKE IT HAPPEN!" He called loudly, which just made everyone get rowdier. Blake stood up and put a hand on his shoulder. Ed turned to look at him. 

"How about we go to the real party?" He grinned. Ed smiled back at him. 

"Sounds like a plan, mind if I take a piss first? I'll meet you in the lobby in five." He replied casually. "Alright maybe ten, can't blame me for wanting to take a bit of a victory lap, can you?" 

"Absolutely not, I'd be milking it too." Blake laughed and patted him on the back roughly. If this was how Blake treated people he actually liked, or at least wanted to get something from in a nice way, it was vastly different from what he'd experienced with the man before. The difference being that here they were equals because Blake didn't know he was actually the man he'd victimized for a good month only to release into the world. The only vantage point Blake may have had on that was that Ed Mercer was broken and gone. He needed to make sure that idea was kept at all costs. 

* * *

By the point the winners had been announced, Alara had made it up to the top floor of the hotel. She stepped off of the elevator and saw Gordon from behind, just standing there uselessly looking between doors like he was trying to figure out which to choose. It was a 50/50 chance at that point but either one could be deadly. She walked towards him, now that she was back here she could tell which door she'd gone into and come out of. 

"It's that one." She said, motioning to the door on his left. 

"Huh?" He asked and turned to look at her. "Alara? Holy damn you are hot." 

"Thanks?" She said then shook her head, "Whatever, they are behind that door, that's the room I was in so-" 

"I'm coming to get Lila myself, with Blake, he's invited me to some sort of after party in his room. If either of you is anywhere near that room, get the fuck away from it ASAP." They both heard Ed's voice over the communicator. 

"How the hell did you-"

"Nevermind how the hell I did it, you have about five minutes to get out of there and not be seen."  He snapped back at Gordon. 

"You heard the man," Gordon said to Alara. 

"You really think he's going to do this alone?" Alara asked, "Do you even know what his plan is other than just to get in there with Blake?" 

"No, but-" 

"But what?" 

"Gordon, what we are going to do is hide and wait. Come on." She grabbed his arm and pulled him back to the elevator. They got on and she snatched the master key from his hand then swiped it and pressed the button for the floor above the one they were currently on. 

"Where are we even going?" He asked. 

"There's a VIP room up there." She said, "Haven't been but I heard Blake talking about it. You need a certain key to access it, which he obviously has, and we do too. We'll fit in if you don't blow it." 

"Noted." He said. At very least they'd be close by if they needed to be. 

"Ed, has Blake figured out who Gordon is?" Alara asked. 

"No. He thinks that Lila is just some bimbo slave bitch and she may not know anything anyway." Ed replied, "I have to go into radio silence." 

"Good luck." She whispered. The elevator doors opened to the VIP area. There was a bunch of complementary food, drink, and drugs up here. Not to mention sexy girls of various alien races naked and dancing in cages in each corner. There were also different booths for viewing different monitors to make bets on various events going on around the outpost. Alara grabbed a bottle of...something that was definitely going to be alcoholic and opened it before starting to chug it. 

"Might not wanna get shit faced, Lass," Gordon said, going back to his accent from before. She looked at him and grabbed a few snacks from the table, heading to a booth that was out of the way but had a clear path to the elevator. Gordon grabbed a beer and followed her, taking a seat across from her. "Might also want to think of an accent, quickly." 

"Right." She said. The only accent she felt she could fake were accents native to her own planet. Though she had interacted with plenty of humans with plenty of different accents she hadn't been around them enough to really know how they all sounded. Except maybe Blake. At that point, she was sure she could duplicate his accent so she was going to have to go with that and say the bare minimum of words not to be exposed. Luckily she didn't think there would be much talking in front of him, or at least she sure hoped there wouldn't be. 

* * *

Lila had heard the chatter over the communicators even if she hadn't been able to say anything about it. At least she knew what was happening here and could guess that Ed was coming there undercover and not as a prisoner or someone that was going to treat her nicely. Her best bet was to pretend that she had no idea who he was either and just keep playing stupid. If what he said was correct then Blake already had some idea that she didn't know anything and she just had to keep acting like she didn't. There wasn't going to be any other way out of this for now, at least not safely. Unless Ed had some plan which differed from the obvious. She couldn't even say that 'Shark' was her owner considering the fact that they surely saw him with Alara and that would be her undoing. 

The door opened and Ed stepped in there with Blake. She looked over at Blake first, in order to make sure she definitely seemed terrified. This situation was precarious and she was scared, she couldn't act like she felt any different for one moment or else that would draw suspicion to everything. 

"My friend here is gonna see if he can't get you to talk. Don't think you'll much like him so if you have something to say, fucking say it now." Blake warned her. She glanced over at Ed and shook her head. She knew he was going to have to hurt her and make it look genuine. She wanted to tell him it was okay as long as he didn't go overboard but she couldn't say a word. 

"This should be fun, she's a tasty little thing isn't she?" Ed laughed and stepped over to her. She looked up at him and whimpered softly. He grabbed her by her hair and yanked her head back. "Where the fuck is his pet? You know anything, bitch?" 

"I ALREADY TOLD YOU I DON'T!" She screamed at him, he let go of her hair and backhanded her roughly. 

"We'll kill you...and it won't be fucking slow." Ed warned her, "You'll fuckin wish you had died by the time we get done with you." 

"I don't know anything...." She breathed, "Please...all I remember is...being dragged off with some guy and...and the shorter one the Xelayan...I don't know who he was he wasn't my Master he just took me." 

"What did he look like?" Blake asked, stepping up and gently moving Ed out of the way to get to her. She swallowed hard and then started to describe the guy who had tried to grab her in the bar earlier where Gordon had punched him. It was the only guy she remembered other than the two men she was with well enough to describe like he actually did something to her. He had startled her and that was enough for her mind to form a memory of him because she had thought right then and there she'd be dead meat. Besides, seeing as how he had just grabbed her in the way he had, it seemed likely he might be doing that to a lot of girls he felt he could just take. "Fuckin Snake." 

"What?" Ed asked. 

"I know who the fuck that is." Blake said, "His name is Snake. Takes bitches all the time and resells them because he can't train them himself." He motioned to his guards and then pointed to the door. Obviously it was clear that their next assignment was to go get this Snake guy so they left easily enough. 

"Can I go now? Please?" Lila asked. 

"KILL HIM ON THE SPOT!" Blake roared down the hall sticking his head out of the door to make sure he was heard. He came back in and shut the door behind him. He walked over to Lila and released her restraints easily enough then shoved her out of the chair. "Think you earned your reward. Go easy on her though, if I'm to sell her before we get out of here I can't have her too beaten up." Ed looked at Blake trying to figure out if he was serious or not. He also tried to decide if what Blake was telling him to do was fuck her. The worst part of this was he knew if he hesitated too much it'd look weird. His mind went into a panic as he feared he'd blow his cover and he got down by Lila quickly, rolling her onto her back. 

"Going to enjoy this...." He growled. 

"NO! GET OFF OF ME!" She screamed at him. He blanked his mind to her screaming, there was no possible way to get her to consent now. They had messed around before and gotten close to doing something and as much as he was sure she did not want this here and now, he could only convince himself that it mostly wasn't rape in the way that she had come onto him before. Except he also knew what he was doing was going to be rape so it was hard to even get the slightest bit aroused. 

"Shut up you whore." He growled and grabbed her throat tightly, squeezing enough to stem her airflow but not completley cut it off. He pulled a knife from his pocket and used it to cut her shirt open. She flailed and kicked, her hands going to his arms and clawing at them desperately but he had her pinned good. Then he paused. "What if I want to buy her?" 

"What?" Blake asked. 

"Yeah, she's my type. Blond, big tits...how much are you asking for her?" Ed said looking back at him. 

"You have very good taste." Blake said with a grin, "For you? Ten thousand." 

"Done." Ed said, "And you know I have the credits." 

"That I do." He said then stood up. "Might want to get the bitch clean before you use her then, and I certainly want her to be clean before getting on the ship." 

"Obviously." Ed said, "Let me take care of it. I'd like to see what I just purchased anyway, kill two birds with one stone." 

"Right, bathroom is back there, through the hall and to the right." He motioned with his hand. Ed nodded and stood up, pulling Lila with him. She screamed and he slapped her again then threw her over his shoulder and started to carry her back there, trying to make this look at brutal as humanly possible. Just like on the ship when he was captive before he couldn't break character, but this time he was well aware of everything going on around him. The only problem was he was going to have to get himself in a position to get revenge on Blake and he wasn't willing to even attempt that until he knew everyone else was safe. 

* * *

"Ed, what's going on?" Gordon spoke softly into his communicator, "Been a good twenty minutes of nothing and we need a status update." 

"Ed's a fucking bastard." Lila hissed next. 

"You do realize that I just saved both of our asses doing that, right?" Ed could be heard next, "The fuck did you want me to do otherwise, Lila?" 

"Shoot him in the face and get me out of there?" 

"That's not part of the plan." Ed insisted. 

"What is the plan?" Alara's voice came firmly next. There was silence and if she had to guess, this plan that Ed had formulated was so stupid or dangerous (or both) that he didn't intend on telling anyone. Or at least, he hadn't intended on telling anyone until the moment he had to or they figured it out. "Ed..." 

"What matters now is getting all of you out of here safely," Ed said without elaborating any more on what this plan may or may not be. 

"That bastard is going to try to get on his ship," Gordon said. 

"What kind of idiotic-" 

"Shut up, Lila." Ed cut her off, "This is my life and this is what I need to do to fix things." 

"How the fuck is getting on his ship going to fix anything?" Alara asked. 

"My motives are my own and no one needs to know what they are beyond that, I'm the fucking captain here, deal with it." He snapped. Alara really didn't like the sound of this, she was going to have to figure out a plan to stop him or at least get back to him so that he didn't end up getting his dumbass killed. She also knew better than to clue Gordon in on this plan or Lila. 

"He doesn't know about Gordon?" Alara asked. 

"No, he thinks some guy named Snake tried to grab you," Ed informed her. 

"Thanks to me," Lila whispered. 

"Good to know," Alara said. She dropped her communicator and looked at Gordon. "You need to go get her from Ed." 

"What? ME? Why? Seems like he has this pretty wrapped up himself." Gordon replied. 

"Ed, you need to get Lila out of there right? What's her standing now?" Alara asked. 

"I bought her from Blake," Ed said. "She's not very happy about that." 

"Blake doesn't know who Gordon is, you're going to sell her to Gordon, he's going to take her and we're going to all get on the ship. We'll give you an hour to catch up with us." Alara told him firmly. She dropped the communicator and looked at Gordon who looked absolutely shocked by all of this. "Stop that, I'm only telling him what he wants to hear, clearly we aren't going to leave him here but if you want him to get out of here at all you better just play along." 

"Fine," Gordon said. "When do you want me down there?" 

"I need to get cleaned up first." Lila said, "Give it about fifteen minutes." 

"I'll transfer some credits to your alias," Ed told him. "Don't mess this up." 

"Haven't messed up anything so far." Gordon reminded him. He finished his beer and grabbed a bag of chips from Alara before opening them. He started to eat them quickly. "You know, this is still the dumbest plan yet. He's Ed, he's stubborn, you really think that he's not going to do exactly what he wants to do?" 

"We can figure out a way around this later. Right now, let's just give him what he wants. If we are all on the ship together it makes it easier for him to find an opening to join us and reconsider this idiotic plan, whatever it is." Alara told him. Gordon nodded and continued to eat. She in no way believed that this was going to go anywhere near the way she was telling him. Not for one second. She was already formulating her own backup plan that no one was going to know about. Something she really didn't want to have to do but what she wanted less than that was to see Ed give his life for her own. Just as he had initially planned, they were all going to get out of there alive, and there wasn't going to be any debate about it. 

 


	22. Tripping Up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate myself for writing this and ending it on such a damn painful cliffhanger but you know...I have to get some sleep I promise this will be updated asap!

Once Gordon had left to negotiate this trade, Alara knew she had to put her part of the plan into action. She told Gordon that she would meet him at the ship but that was definitely a lie. He didn't need to know that part. All he needed to do was get Lila to the ship and make sure she was safe that was all that mattered now. Since she'd already resolved herself to dying with Blake on his ship she didn't feel much one way or the other about going back there if it meant definitely protecting Ed from all the horrors that could potentially befall him once he was found out. She could only imagine it would just be a matter of time. 

She got up and walked over to one of the tables with all of the drugs. She looked at the woman behind the table. She wasn't human, her species was more closely related to birds than anything. Had feathers instead of hair, as well as a beak, but otherwise were more of less humanoid. It probably sucked for them that they couldn't fly either even though they completely looked like the could fly with how their bodies were built. Alara looked over some of the items. There were things there that were familiar and things she'd never seen before. Seeing as how she'd never willingly done drugs in her life and even Blake hadn't drugged her, she wasn't sure to start. 

"Can I help you with anything?" The woman asked. 

"Yeah, I need something that's really going to mess me up." Alara said, "I mean like, I don't even remember my own name fuck me up, but I need to at least be somewhat in control of what I say or do, you know...have to get through a really boring trip so have to be able to work the controls, right?" 

"I can certainly help with that." The woman said and looked over the supply she had laid out on the table. She picked up a packet of pills and then held them out so Alara could take them, which she did, and looked them over. "These should do the trick." 

"I only need to be fucked up for about an hour at a time, my shifts aren't long." She said, "How long do these tend to last?" 

"Hmmm..." The bird lady leaned in and looked at the pills. Alara grabbed her by the plume of feathers behind her head. 

"Look lady, I'm not screwing around here I need it to specifically only last a fucking hour, you're bones are hollow and I'm Xelayan do you really want to piss me off?" She hissed. Then she let go of the woman shocked with her own behavior as much as the woman seemed to be. That was the first time, possibly in her life, she'd gotten that violent with a random stranger over something as stupid as trying to get drugs for herself. She woman shook herself off, her feathers ruffling angrily as she made herself look a bit bigger. 

"Half a pill. Guaranteed." The bird woman said. 

"I'll be back to kick your ass if you're wrong." She said, "This stuff is complimentary, right?" 

"Yes of course." The bird lady nodded. 

"Good." She put the pills in her pocket and then headed for the door, grabbing a bottle of water before leaving. Hopefully, the woman was telling the truth but she figured with that type of threat she would have gotten a different answer if it wasn't true, or at least if the woman knew better. Once she was in the elevator she took one of the pills out, snapped it in half, and downed it with the water. It had been a good fifteen minutes which meant Ed and Gordon should be finishing up with the purchase. As if on cue, Gordon alerted her to the fact that he had Lila and was headed back to the ship. "I'm almost there as well." She lied. He could worry about where she actually was once he got back there and realized she wasn't telling the truth. 

* * *

Ed heard what Alara had told Gordon and felt far more at ease. They were going back to the ship, all of them and said that he'd have an hour to catch up. He never intended to actually catch up, it was more like he had an hour to convince them that they were in enough danger that they had to leave without him. He just had to figure out how to do that. He was lounging on the couch having a beer and watching some fight that Blake had bet a decent sum of money on. It was a fight to the death and it was taking a while. Ed was kind of amazed at how incredibly desensitized he was to casually watching this. There was a knock on the door. 

"Who's there?" Blake called. There was no answer. He looked over at Ed, "Expecting someone else?" 

"Nope," Ed said and took another sip of beer. There was another knock. 

"Goddammit." Blake muttered and got up and headed to the door, "This better be good because if it's not someone's getting shot in the face." He opened the door to see Alara standing there, well, leaning there like the only thing keeping her conscious was the actual door frame. Ed turned and looked at her, his eyes going wide. She'd gotten rid of her disguise, and was half naked, her clothing ripped, her eyes bloodshot. She looked like death warmed over. The only other item on her other than the torn scraps of clothing was the collar, she didn't even have shoes. Luckily, Blake's back was to him so he didn't see any of this reaction but Ed was as pissed off about this as he was terrified. 

"I...I don't know...what happened..." Alara muttered and looked up at Blake, "I think...I think I got...I had to get away from him and come back to you. You're my Master. Not him...not him." She stumbled forward and Blake caught her easily enough then lifted her into his arms. He carried her over to the couch and set her down next to Ed. 

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised my favorite pet knew enough to get away from that fuckwit." Blake said, "Spike, this was the one I was telling you about." 

"Huh...Xelayan." Ed said like he was mildly amused by this, mostly because he knew if he said anything more than that he was going to start yelling and expose himself. He was going to have to have quite a few angry words with her once they got alone, if that happened at all. "Pretty hot, well trained indeed if she came back to you." 

"Think she's been drugged." Blake said and put his hand on her face looking into her eyes, "That would explain a lot. I actually feel bad for her, weird right? I suppose no one would think I had the ability." He chuckled and stroked Alara's hair back and she rested against the couch her head turning slowly to look at Ed. 

"To be fair you do have a reputation." Ed pointed out. 

"I know...and I must uphold it no matter what but on rare occasions, you find a pet that really captures your heart." He smiled at Alara who wasn't doing much of anything and looked like she was 8 miles high and far gone from this reality. Ed wondered what the hell she'd taken before getting in here because he knew Gordon didn't give her anything nor would he have let her take anything if he knew about it. This meant that Gordon and Lila were going to get back to the ship but him and Alara weren't. He was going to need to change his plans on the fly and he hadn't considered this as any sort of plan. No part of it included Alara of all people coming back to Blake to try to...save him? 

"Want me to get her cleaned up for you so you don't miss the fight?" Ed asked, "Did a good job with that other bitch, yeah?" 

"Sounds perfect, but she's not for your use so don't touch her in any way that you don't absolutely have to, got that?" Blake warned. 

"No problem. Consider it a favor. Besides, just being able to handle this gorgeous creature is reward enough for me." He said and stood up. With Alara limp and sedated she was easier to pick up than Lila had been since she was considerably smaller. He handled her far more carefully, which luckily didn't seem suspicious at all considering Blake had made it clear what a favorite toy she was to him already. He took her down the hall and into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. 

"Alara isn't coming to the ship." Ed alerted Gordon as soon as he had the water running and could do it without being heard. Alara was sitting on the side of the tub but she was so drugged up she kept falling forward and he had to keep catching her to keep her from doing a faceplant on the floor. He looked at her as he propped her up again and patted her cheeks gently trying to get her more lucid. 

"What do you mean she's not coming to the ship?" Gordon replied. 

"She's just not. You need to leave with Lila." Ed informed him. 

"Ed, we aren't leaving without you." Lila said. 

"I know that's what you think but Alara came back here, she's very drugged, I have no idea what she took and getting her back there before Blake catches onto something being off is not an option. I am not risking either of your lives again. Get out of here." Ed ordered. 

"Mmmm you are really...really sexy, I like that voice." Alara purred and put her hand on Ed's face. He gently moved it back, having a vague memory of doing this to Lila when she was trying to clean him up a few days ago. "That voice is like...like the voice of God's voice." 

"Was that her? The fuck is she on?" Gordon asked. 

"Leave." Ed said, "The Orville is somewhere around right? If you really want to help, scan for them, get their attention and lead them back to this general area. If Blake got a room here that means he's at least intent on spending the night. You have time. Get Lila on the Orville and come back here. It's four of us against his entire crew right now so-" 

"Ed, I hate to inform you that our entire crew couldn't beat him the first time so in theory-" 

"If The Orville is out there, then other Union ships are. Everyone is looking for her, you can come back with an entire army. The faster you leave, the more time you have to catch up with us. Face the fact that right now we just aren't going to join you and your better option is to leave us for a few hours and get help." Ed explained. 

"Orville...ORRRRR-VILLLLEEEE...that's a funny word. What is it?" Alara asked. 

"Fine, but you get more of whatever she's on and bring it back because I want some," Gordon said.

"Gordon!" Lila snapped. 

"I'll see you soon," Ed told him and then cut off the communicator by silencing it. The things had decent range but sooner or later Gordon and Lila would be completely out of it and he and Alara would be there entirely alone. He wasn't looking forward to it. 

* * *

"You're really doing this?" Lila asked as Gordon pulled away from the dock and the ship started to move. 

"Uh...yeah." Gordon said, "He kind of has a point, Lila. We can come back with an army, one that Blake isn't going to defeat with his ship, no matter how powerful it is." 

"He can still kill Alara and Ed before we get back." Lila said. 

"I am aware of that but he's not going to leave her behind and he's right it's...it's too risky to try with only four of us." He said, "I don't want to do this, I really don't, but the odds are more in our favor if we go get help. You have to understand that." 

"I understand it but I really don't like it." She said, "After all I went through to cover for his ass he's just abandoning us like this?"

"He's abandoning us as much as we are abandoning him but it's for a higher cause." He said, "Do you really want to go back there and take your chances with those pirates or would you rather be here and know you're safe until I can get you on a very big starship?" He asked. She sat down and looked out of the view screen as they jumped into the fastest speed they could be going before they'd hit warp. At least the ship had been modified by that point and restocked with actual food. She watched Gordon rework the sensors so they could be alerted if they came anywhere near a Union ship. 

"I'm terrified." She said, "I don't want anything to happen to either of them." 

"Neither do I, that's why I'm going for help." He said, "We have the coordinates of the outpost, something The Orville doesn't have, they can also travel faster than us if we dock with them. It'll take a few hours to find them but it'll take less time to get back. Lila I promise you, no matter what, we will get them back." He sat back in his chair and then turned to look at him. She grabbed him and pulled him into a passionate kiss, which he didn't even attempt to fight off. They were desperate for some type of comfort, both of them, and he was pretty sure that this was about to lead to some amazing sex. 

* * *

Once Ed had finished getting Alara cleaned up, wondering how she'd managed to get as dirty as she had in the short period of time that had elapsed between the last time he saw her and right that moment, he pulled her out of the tub and wrapped a towel around her. She groaned softly, seeming to come to a bit as she looked over at him. Her eyes were more clear, but still a bit glossy. Not nearly the same nine-yard stare she'd had when he'd first started to get her clean. 

"Were those songs for me?" She asked. 

"The...the ones at the competition?" He asked. 

"Yeah." She whispered and then backed up and sat down on the side of the tub again. He nodded and looked away from her. "Both of them?" 

"Yes." He said, "I mean, I didn't expect you to hear the first one but you did and I chose it partly for you and partly because I'm pretending to be a British guy right now. At least in front of Blake." 

"Hmmm...that's very nice." She said and then yawned, "I'll have to look more into this Billy Idol guy." 

"Sure, as soon as we aren't here anymore." He said and moved towards her to get her on her feet again. "What did you take?" 

"I don't know...half of some pill. The bird said it would only last like an hour and I think she's right. Starting to feel it wear off." She replied. 

"Good because I'm going to need you aware of what you are doing until Gordon comes back with actual help." He said getting his arm around her so he could walk her out of there with him. He opened the door, "I'm going back into character now. Just, do whatever you normally do with him." 

"Okay but you aren't going to like it and you can't break character, you know why." She muttered. He definitely knew why and he was sure as hell he wasn't going to like whatever it was she normally did with Blake but for the next few hours he didn't have any other option but pretend to like it. He just hoped that he'd be able to hold it together for that long. 

Once they were back out in the general living room area, Blake looked over at them and motioned for Alara to come towards him, which she did without hesitation. It was more important than ever that she obey and she was well aware of that. She feared if Ed saw Blake harm her he'd snap and reveal himself. The problem was that she also believed that if he saw Blake do something to her that was sexual he'd snap too. She had to weigh what was worse and what wasn't. He'd never seen Blake do anything to her in way of sex, at least nothing that he really seemed to remember, to her knowledge. The one thing she could think of was the video they'd made and sent back and he had been so out of it, she doubted he retained memory of it. She wonder if she'd seen it yet. 

"What about my clothes, sir?" Alara asked. 

"You don't need them in here." He said flippantly and yanked the towel off of her. Ed sat down and watched them from across the room but didn't say anything. She stood there, as she normally would, not trying to hide since there was no point and if she tried to do it in front of 'Spike' he'd question why. As this new guy was allegedly just another pirate. 

"Is he...new?" Alara asked, motioning to Spike. 

"Yes, love." He said and took her arm, he pulled her into his lap and looked her in the eyes intently. "Thought I'd never see you again, even sent some of my men to kill a guy over you. You're a very good pet." 

"Thank you, sir." She said softly. 

"Do you think of that idiot anymore, the hell is his name? Ned?" Blake laughed. Alara knew that this was typical of him to do, but it certainly wouldn't be something Ed knew about she tried to avoid glancing over at him because she knew that was something he'd notice. 

"Ed," She said softly. 

"So you do still think of him," He said and stroked her cheek, "You're going to call me that tonight when I'm fucking you if that's how you feel." 

"Sir," 

"Ed." He grinned. She just clenched her jaw and smiled at him. As weird as it was, this was something he was doing to humiliate her and break her and she was well aware of it. Had Ed not actually been there it would have worn her down a bit more, as it had been slowly eating away at her each time but now he was there and she was just terrified. 

"Are we going to do this in front of the new guy, Ed?" She asked him softly. At least that wouldn't have seemed weird because Blake wasn't too keen on fucking her in front of other people on his crew. Blake arched his eyebrows and glanced over in Ed's direction. 

"You mind?" He asked. 

"Of course not," Ed replied his voice sounding very close to breaking. 

"Doing okay?" 

"Huh, yeah just tired. Been traveling for a long while, desperate to get anywhere with other people." He said, "You go ahead and do whatever. Don't mind me, just thinking is all." Alara looked at him as well, it was almost a glare. Really? This was his answer? Just do whatever? He wasn't going to try to stop it. She felt Blake's hand on her face, turning her head back towards him so she was looking in his direction and her face softened a bit. 

"Ah yes, that's right, Captain Ed Mercer. His mouth wasn't as nice as yours...close though." He laughed. Ed cleared his throat loudly. Blake looked at him. 

"Sorry...swallowed wrong," Ed said and then drank more of the beer he was holding. This wasn't going to end well, no matter what she did on her end, he was going to expose himself and it was really only a matter of time now. 

"Right," Blake said, giving him an odd look before turning back to her. "Get your mouth on my cock, pet." 

"Yes sir, er uh...Ed." She muttered. 

"What?" 

"Yes, Ed...I would love to suck your cock." She corrected herself speaking in a more firm and clear voice not wanting to get shocked. She was lucky she did it as fast as she had because he really didn't like when she didn't speak clearly, especially when they were playing this specific and humiliating game of his. She slipped down onto her knees in front of him and reached to undo his pants. She forced herself to keep her eyes forward so she wasn't tempted to look over at Ed and make him react any worse than he already was. Once his cock was out she ran her hand over it gently and leaned in taking it into her mouth, moving her hand behind her back and locking them there in place as she interlaced her hands. For some reason this was how he liked it, he considered it submissive and it had become second nature to her. 

He reached down and rested his hand on her head, pushing her down quickly, making her gag loudly. Grabbing her hair, he started to move her up and down on him, grunting softly and resting his head back. He chuckled to himself, which she was used to. He found it very amusing that he had gotten the best of a Union Captain, broken him, and still owned his chief of security. She didn't think he'd ever really tire of the idea, even if she did break and become completely his. She was the ultimate trophy to him, not only as a Xelayan but also what he'd accomplished to get her. He was basically king now, everyone heard about what he'd done. This was his paradise and he had won. 

As he was pulling her up, her gaze shifted and she saw Ed behind him with his gun aimed at the back of Blake's head. Alara suddenly jerked and faltered, losing her concentration, trying to pull back from him, which was something she hadn't done in a very long time. This, of course, alerted Blake to the fact that something was wrong. He let go of her quickly and turned around to see what she got startled by. 

"The fuck is wrong with you, Spike?" Blake snarled, "You know these dumb animals are easily frightened." He motioned to Alara as he said it. 

"Ed..." Alara said in a warning tone without meaning to do it. 

"ED?" Blake roared and stood up, jamming his cock back into his pants and making himself decent. He didn't seem at all deterred by the gun and weirdly, Ed, instead of doing anything to stop this, froze. Blake grabbed him by his throat quickly, putting his other hand on Ed's wrist and snapping it easily, the only thing that kept Ed from screaming from the pain was the fact he was being choked. "You knew this, didn't you?" 

"Sir, I can explain," 

"YOU LET HIM IN HERE!" Blake roared at her and removed the gun from Ed's hand before throwing him across the room into the wall. "Oh, you are in trouble, little girl and him? He's going to SUFFER!" Alara panicked and attempted to crawl towards Ed only to get a long, vicious shock to her collar. She screamed out and curled up on the floor, her ears ringing and her heart beating far faster than it was meant to, her body going into overdrive and her hands moving to desperately grasp at the collar until she blacked out. 

* * *

When she woke up she was in a cage. She was in an arena, somewhere, not on the ship though. This one was different. It was far too large to be on his ship, so she could only assume that they were still at the outpost. Which was a good thing considering that Gordon was on his way to find help to bring people back here. She didn't know how long she'd been out, it could have been thirty minutes and it could have been a few hours. There was a buzz and a click as the door on the cage released and opened. She was still naked, except the collar. She rubbed her eyes, clearing them significantly so things didn't look like random gray blobs and pulled herself out of the cage to stand up. There was a quick shock which immediately sent her back to her knees. She yelled out in pain but stayed in place. 

Two doors opened across from her and Ed was shoved into the room with Blake behind him. Except he looked like Ed Mercer, not like his Spike persona, complete with a Union Captain's uniform. He saw her and immediately ran towards he, getting down and pulling her into his arms, holding her protectively. For some reason Blake was allowing this, but they were soon to find out why. 

"Good evening everyone," Blake said, like he was addressing an audience. Alara realized that, though there was no one in there, he was definitely speaking to anyone who happened to be in the outpost and watching. It suddenly made sense to her why he had a similar set up on his own ship. This was his life, he was some type of sick twisted expert showman. Anything ranging from fights to the death to perverted sex acts. That's where he practiced. 

"Ed..." She whispered, holding onto him just as tightly, "You are such a fucking...I...we're going to die here, he's going to kill us." 

"Not you." He whispered. "I'm sorry." 

"What do you mean not me?" She whispered. 

"Tonight I bring you the live execution of a Union officer. Captain of the USS Orville, Ed Mercer." Blake said and motioned in Ed's direction. 

"NO!" Alara screamed and shoved Ed away from her, she got up and made a run towards Blake, moving faster than she ever had. She was thrown to the ground with another shock, not one strong enough to knock her out, just one to hurt her. She screamed in pain and frustration. 

"I don't know why you're complaining, you're free to go once he's dead," Blake said as if he was very annoyed. 

"You keep your promise you bastard and you never set foot in our area of space again!" Ed ordered him in the most commanding voice he ever had as a captain. 

"A pirate always keeps his word." Blake growled, "As much as I'd hate to lose such a good little whore, your death at my hands is far more rewarding, no one's ever done that before." 

"FUCK YOU BLAKE!" Alara screamed she was shocked again. Blake rolled his eyes and motioned for Ed to come towards him. Ed looked at Alara and walked towards him, keeping his incredibly proud and confident posture the entire time. This situation was bad, but Ed would know by showing no fear, acting courageous, and not letting this man weaken him, he was upholding the image of the Union for everyone watching. He absolutely could not let them think that what Blake had done was easy or common if only to keep others safe from pirate attacks. Ed knew that this was only going to boost Blake's reputation as a God in this realm of space but it would also prevent ships from being attacked. If pirates came to believe this was something easy to do then they'd all cross the borders and they'd once again be in dangerous space. 

"It's not going to be quick," Blake told him. 

"I'm aware of that. I'm not afraid of you." Ed spoke firmly. 

"You will be." Blake hissed at him and then grinned. "Your little friend here is going to help, isn't she?" 

"LIKE HELL I WILL!" Alara screamed at him, "WHY THE HELL ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME?" She looked at Ed, not Blake because the last question was meant for him. She knew why Blake was doing this to her, that was obvious, but at some point, they'd clearly made some sort of deal to trade his life for her freedom and the safety of the Union (at least from Blake's ship). How could he not have known? 

"This wasn't part of the deal." Ed snarled. 

"Oh but she's not free until you're dead. You don't get something for nothing, Captain Mercer. She's got to play her part." Blake told him. "Get up, pet." 

"No." She growled. This only got her shocked. 

"GET UP!" He roared and shocked her again. Despite what her mind was telling her, her body couldn't take this abuse, which he knew. She could mentally detest everything he was telling her to do but her body would reject the punishment. The torture. Her body was going to rebel against her to avoid the constant torment of those damn shocks and he knew it, which was why she was getting to her feet despite what she was telling him. She realized, whether she wanted to or not, she was going to be playing a part in the death of Ed Mercer. 


	23. Double-Edged Sword

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some really, REALLY brutal torture in this chapter, and some messed up rape, so be warned.

She'd been put in a holding room alone for the time being, not that she'd wanted to be put in there and she'd tried to avoid it but due to the way her brain had been programmed there wasn't much she'd been able to do to resist Blake. He told her that she needed to sit and wait there while they 'set up'. She begged him to let her wait with Ed but she wasn't exactly surprised when she didn't get her way on that either. The holding room didn't have anything that she could use to escape or use as a weapon. Not that it mattered much given that she had some uncanny inability to attack Blake despite also having the intense desire to do it. 

It was only then she realized why Ed hadn't shot Blake when he had the chance. Why he'd frozen up in the room allowing himself to get caught. There was no lack of desire to shoot the man but after what he'd been through, and God only knew what happened to him when she wasn't around to watch it, he had the same problem. It was just far more subconscious to him and he probably had not expected to freeze up like that. Ed Mercer of all people did not seem like the type to hesitate before pulling a trigger if it was a life or death matter, but he had failed to do it to Blake. Alara knew that Ed and him had spent plenty of time off alone doing...whatever. She didn't think it had all been sex either, but drugs had played a heavy part in the last few weeks of Ed's stay on that ship. With how he'd basically been programmed to attack her on command there was no doubt in her mind that there were some underlying triggers besides that too. She wondered if he had gotten difficult with Blake and he'd seen to it that Ed couldn't attack him, much like he'd done with her. If he was giving the guy drugs and working him over physically and mentally, then implanting an idea in his brain wouldn't have been the hardest thing in the world to do. 

The only thing she could do in this room now was pace nervously. She believed that whenever Ed had made the trade of his life for her freedom he had good intentions. She also believed that he had no clue Blake would involve her in this. Once he got Blake to make the promise, because she knew that Blake had some weird code of ethics where he always kept his word once he made a deal, he hadn't considered clarifying on what that meant. What the terms and conditions were. Blake was visibly unhappy with having to give her up, and if that was the case he knew that before he ever let her go he was going to do the most he could to ruin her life before getting her freedom. In that way, he'd always have control over her and there wouldn't be anything she could do to stop it. 

After about ten minutes had elapsed, Blake came back into the room and grabbed her by the arm. She didn't try to resist him because she knew she couldn't. She was trying to save her energy for when she'd need it most and she'd need it to at least try to resist doing anything to harm Ed which she knew was going to prove futile in the long run, but anything to slow down the process might help. Especially if it allowed Gordon more time to find help and bring it back. On her own, she seemed to be no match for Blake. Nor did Ed. That meant that all either of them could do was pray the Orville got to them in time before disaster struck. 

* * *

Out in the arena once more, the area was set up quite differently. Ed was there, restrained to a large metal chair that had been brought in. He was shirtless but had the rest of his uniform on. He was sitting there very calmly. His head up and his eyes forward. She was shoved next to him causing her to stumble. She had to put her hand on his shoulder to steady herself. Surrounding them now was an array of torture devices ranging from mild to vicious. Knives mostly. She wondered if a lot of this was for show more than it was to actually torture him but she honestly had no idea. On a table a few feet away from Ed was an assortment of syringes and other things including a device that would heal wounds quickly. 

"Alright so, here are the rules," Blake said. 

"Rules?" Alara asked, "What the hell kind of rules do you need here?" 

"The game isn't fun if there are no rules." He chuckled, "Stupid bitch. In any case, he needs to hear them so he's aware of what he's in for. I suppose this should be rather fun because he doesn't seem like a man to break easily." 

"I told you I'm not afraid of you and there's nothing you can do to get me to beg for mercy. We made a deal, Blake. What's done is done." Ed told him. 

"Ah, you say that now but I think I can get you to change your mind." Blake said, "So, what's going to happen here is you are going to be tortured by me, oh and her, since I know you just love that idea. No wounds we inflict will be fatal, in fact, I intend to keep you very much alive and aware of what's going on through this whole ordeal. It is only when you chose to die will I deliver the final blow." 

"NO! I REFUSE TO BE A PART OF ANY OF THIS!" Alara yelled at him, "Ed, you need to stop this right now...I'm not doing this and being stubborn won't-" She didn't get a chance to finish because she was given another shock which sent her to her knees. Her hands went to the damn collar around her neck and she tried to pull at it, with little result as tears burned at her eyes. 

"You do realize that you will be at this for a very long time before I beg you to take my life, right?" Ed snapped at him. 

"I think that normally, that would be the case." Blake said and looked over the choice of syringes that he had, grabbing one and walking over to him, "But I also think once you see what it's doing to your little friend here you might not be so eager to play the tough guy." He leaned in and jammed the syringe into Ed's neck, injecting the contents before pulling back and tossing the syringe aside. 

"What's that? What did you just inject him with?" Alara breathed, putting her hand on Ed's arm so she could pull herself back onto her feet. 

"Amphetamine...oh that's definitely what that is...fuck..." Ed breathed and then closed his eyes tightly. Alara moved her hand to his neck finding his pulse with her fingers. His heart was racing and his body was starting to shake. 

"Why did you do that?" She demanded. 

"Because, it'll make everything much more painful for him, but also it will prevent him from going into shock too quickly," Blake said. "Can I have a monitor projection of the betting pool please?" A few seconds after he asked that a projection appeared across from where she was standing to show her what the odds were on Ed's survival and how long he'd last. The odds of his survival were projected at 0% which didn't surprise her. Seemed that most of the bets on how long he'd last before begging to be killed were one hour. Alara didn't know much about Blake or his torture methods but she had to believe these people watching had seen him do something like this before which was why people were betting on an hour or less so much. There were very few bets placed on 5 hours or more which was the longest one. 

"Ha...I can last way more than an hour." Ed boasted looking in Blake's direction. 

"Yeah, but do you think she can?" Blake motioned to Alara and Ed turned to look at her. Only then did she see fear in his eyes. It was like it had taken until that moment for him to understand what he might be doing to her trying to hold out forever. It wasn't that she wanted him to die immediately, she knew that they at least had to try to stall for time but she didn't know how much time they needed to stall for or if help was going to get there within the next two hours or the next two days. She didn't have her communicator anymore, neither did Ed. The best they could do was try to hold out and hope it worked out. Blake grabbed a knife, one with a short but sharp blade, nothing too intimidating, and walked over to her. He grabbed her hand and put the knife in it then stepped back from her. "Stab him." 

"What? NO!" She yelled. "This has gone far enough Blake. If you think you can command me to do anything like that-" She cut herself off when he removed a remote from his pocket and held it up. The remote that would shock her if she didn't listen to him. His thumb moved near the button and her mind blanked out. The next thing she became aware of was the shout of pain coming from Ed. Her vision cleared and she looked down to see she'd jammed the knife in his bicep because that had been closest to where she was standing. She gasped and moved back, just staring at the handle of the blade which was sticking out of his arm. She'd gotten the knife in there entirely.  

"That's a good girl." Blake praised her. 

"FUCK YOU!" 

"She wouldn't listen to anything you said if you didn't have that damn remote!" Ed growled, breathing heavily. 

"Yeah but I do have it so I guess it really sucks to be you." Blake taunted him. "Pull the blade out and do it again." 

"Blake..." Alara said trying to sound like she was warning him but her voice was too shaky for that to work. She was shocked then, enough to cause sufficient pain but not to knock her off her feet. Once again, her body reacted against her will and she grabbed the knife, pulled it out and stabbed Ed again. Same arm just in a different area. This time Ed attempted to stifle his cry of pain and succeeded rather well. Alara could smell his blood and feel it on her hand. She backed away from him quickly, hoping that if she wasn't within range of Ed or the knife she couldn't react so fast to Blake's orders. 

"Well now, isn't this fun?" Blake chuckled. He walked over to Ed and pulled the knife from his arm and used the dermal wand he had to heal both of the stab wounds. Alara realized then how quickly this was going to become hell on earth for her. "Come here pet." 

"No!" She snapped, yet that really didn't stop her from moving towards him, much to her disbelief. He grabbed her arm and put the knife back in her hand, using his hand to close hers around it so she was holding it. She cried out in frustration and swung the knife at him but before she could make any sort of contact with his body she was sent to her knees with a shock. He was really good at timing this, and always had been. There was no way out. She was completely under his control. "DAMN YOU BLAKE!" 

"Stab him again. Go for the abdomen this time." Blake said, "Lower and off to the side, don't want to hit any vital organs do you?" 

"Fuck you, Blake." Ed snapped. 

"DO IT PET!" Blake commanded. Before she could stop herself she was following his orders. She moved to Ed and stabbed him where she had been told with very little hesitation. She screamed angrily and backed away from Ed, her cry masking his just a bit. She looked down at him in horror. 

"Ed I'm sorry...fuck I'm sorry!" She she cried, "YOU AREN'T GOING TO GET AWAY WITH THIS BLAKE!" 

"Looks like I'm doing a pretty good job getting away with it so far," He teased her. "Take it out and do it again." 

"Stop it..." Ed breathed. The request wasn't aimed at her and she knew it but she also knew there was no way around doing what he was asking her to do. 

"DO IT AGAIN PET!" Blake ordered. Alara moved in quickly, yanking the knife out and repeating the act, this time jamming the knife into the opposite side. The scream of pain that came from Ed next nearly knocked her down, she figured she must have hit some organ in him to produce that level of pain. On instinct, she reached to pull the knife out again but Blake was over there quickly to shove her back. 

"PLEASE STOP THIS!" She begged him. 

"Think you might have hit his liver, that's about the general area...that has to hurt." Blake laughed as he looked Ed over. Alara screamed angrily, her hands moving to the collar, desperately trying to pull it off but it wasn't working. What the hell was this thing made out of that she couldn't just break it? Though maybe that wasn't it at all. This conditioning from Blake had weakened her substantially. Not really in a physical sense but in a way that she was completely zapped of any strength now for fear of the pain it would bring her if she exhibited any sign of it. Had he wanted any of this to happen before now, it would have never worked but he'd been training her for just long enough at that point that she was directly under her command. She couldn't even break that stupid chain in the hotel bar before, and that had been basically nothing. 

"Please don't make me do this anymore." She begged him. "PLEASE! Can't you just...do something to him yourself?" 

"You're asking me to torture your Captain?" Blake asked her. She realized what she had just requested once he put it that way. Anything he was going to do to Ed would be far worse than stabbing him, she knew that much, but she also couldn't take doing this anymore herself so she didn't know the answer. 

"Let him do it, Alara." Ed breathed. 

"Ed..." 

"What's it going to be, pet? Me or you?" Blake asked, "Do you want me to take over? Answer the fucking question." Everything in her twisted up into a tight bundle of nerves until finally she screamed angrily and dropped to her knees her hands going to her face as she started to sob. 

"Please just stop this." She begged pathetically. 

"I'm sorry what was that?" Blake asked her. 

"DO IT YOURSELF! YOU FUCKING BASTARD!" Ed yelled at him. He was ignored, and Blake got down by Alara, grabbing her hair and forcing her to look at him. 

"Say it..." He whispered. "Tell me what you want." She looked at him, tears streaking her face, knowing she had no other options. 

"I want you to do it..." She whispered. 

"Do it? Do what?" 

"I WANT YOU TO TORTURE MY CAPTAIN" She yelled at him. The only reason she phrased it that way was that she knew he wouldn't accept any less and it was definitely what he wanted to hear. She didn't want to say it but she wanted to keep stabbing Ed even less than she wanted to watch Blake do it so she took the only way out of it that she could. Blake let go of her and turned to Ed. 

"See how easy this is for me?" Blake asked him, "And it's not even been 20 minutes." 

"Go to hell." Ed snarled. 

"Not before you." Blake grinned and grabbed the knife, he twisted it, getting another scream of agony from Ed before pulling the blade back out of him and healing the wounds again. Alara could only sit there, watching on in horror, trying to justify what she'd just done here but nothing she was telling herself was making the situation any better. She'd essentially just put Ed's life at the mercy of a demon, and she was going to have to watch it all. "Let's see...what should I do next?"

* * *

"Fuck you Blake...seriously just...fuck you." Ed muttered and closed his eyes. He took in a few shallow breaths before managing to take in a deep one and let it out slowly. He looked over at Alara. His vision was tunneling and he could see just how badly this was breaking Alara. He knew exactly what she did, though, and that was he had to stall for time. As much as humanly possible. He'd been tortured before due to some of his painfully bad decisions as a union officer he could sit through it again. Especially since he knew that Gordon was at least trying to get help. Had the situation been hopeless with no end in sight, he might have thought differently about holding out for very long but this wasn't that. They had hope if they could just get through it and they could get through it, together. 

"Had a feeling you missed my cock in your arse." Blake snickered and then grabbed another syringe from the table. He looked at it and came over to Ed, jamming it into his neck and injecting it quickly before pulling back. 

"What was that?" Ed asked softly. 

"You'll find out in about ten seconds." Blake said. Ed didn't like the sound of that, especially since it really gave him no idea what to brace himself or prepare for. He looked over at Alara again but her head was down. That was until the injection hit him and hit him hard. It felt like acid was flowing through his veins. Everywhere. Traveling through his body from his chest to his head and down to each one of his toes, fingers. Every nerve was screaming at him, creating a painful stinging heat that he never thought was possible lest someone was able to stand on the sun and survive the elements. He took in a sharp breath and held it, trying desperately not to scream. He was only able to keep that at bay for about thirty seconds before he was screaming, just screaming, no words. No ability to think. Just agonizing pain and screeching. 

* * *

Alara looked up when Ed started to scream. Her face going pale. She didn't think she'd ever seen anyone in this much pain. She had no clue what Blake had injected into Ed but it really didn't matter considering that it was clearly doing its job. She watched on in horror for a moment before managing to tear her gaze away from that and look at Blake who was very much enjoying the moment. To a point where she could tell that he was aroused. After what seemed like an eternity of screaming Ed went silent and his head dropped down. Had he passed out? She started to crawl towards him.

"STAY!" Blake ordered her, and she froze in place. "He's not dead or unconscious the effects wore off, it's not meant to last that long. Where's the fun in that?"  

"You can kiss the fattest part of my ass, Blake," Alara growled at him. Slowly, Ed lifted his head up. His face streaked with tears, in one of his eyes a blood vessel had burst giving it a very eerie dark reddish purple hue. He looked over at Blake. 

"That all you got?" He whispered. 

"You are a cheeky little bastard aren't you? Just a glutton for punishment. Why am I not surprised?" Blake said. 

"STOP IT! PLEASE!" Alara begged. 

"No, I'm fine, that was NOTHING." Ed snapped by some miracle managing to get power behind his voice. "You can't do shit to me, can you? Huh? That's what you think is going to break me? You think the Krill don't use that as a warm up? Come on BLAKE let's see what you really got!" 

"ED!" Alara screamed. "Oh my GOD stop it! LOOK AT YOU!" 

"Yes Ed, stop it." Blake taunted in a mocking tone, "Can't you see what you are doing to your little friend here?" 

"She can take it." He growled. "Come on, give me your best shot you fucking animal." 

"Fine, if that's what you want," Blake said. He used the dermal wand to heal the wounds that were visible from the knife still then walked over to Alara and grabbed her by the hair causing her to scream. He got down, positioning her on her hands and knees, getting behind her and unzipping his pants. 

"NO!" Ed yelled, "Come on now your victim is me here, not her!" 

"I do believe this will be very painful for you to watch." Blake said, "Probably the worst thing I can do to you while I still have the chance. You've never seen me do this before." The only reason Alara wasn't protesting this or trying to fight it was because it meant Blake's attention was no longer on Ed and that was good enough for her. He shoved her all the way down to the floor with no resistance and rammed his cock into her ass. She screamed out, clawing at the floor, her body tensing up considerably. 

"STOP IT!" Ed yelled at him. 

"Oh she doesn't like this, does she? But I think you like it even less." Blake said, a twisted grin stretching across his face as he started to thrust into her. He'd fucked her like this plenty of times so it wasn't something she wasn't used to, sadly, but that didn't mean she enjoyed it any more than the last time he did it. 

"You think you're such a big fucking deal here? Huh? A big man? What does this prove? She doesn't even fight you back." Ed spat at him. 

"That doesn't mean she never did." Blake grunted, speeding up his thrusts and looking at Ed. He grabbed her by her hair and turned her head so she was looking at him instead of away, then pressed his hand to her temple so she was pinned to the floor and had no choice but to look in his direction, which resulted in her closing her eyes. "FUCKING LOOK AT YOUR CAPTAIN, BITCH!" She squealed softly and opened her eyes. 

"Where's the challenge in this huh? You already won with her, you didn't win with me, I'm still breathing!" Ed taunted him in an effort to get his attention away from her. All it seemed to be doing was amping him up more. The more Ed complained and protested the more aroused Blake got and the harder he pounded into her. Given that Blake had illegally used Xelayan gene therapy to enhance himself, he could get pretty powerful with his hips and this meant more pain for her. She clenched her fists and her jaw, trying not to give him the satisfaction of knowing how much this hurt. Her body shaking as she blinked a few tears from her eyes. 

"You're only...going to be breathing...as long as I...allow it...FUCK she has a nice ass." Blake roared.

"I'D FUCKING KILL YOU IF YOU DIDN'T HAVE ME TIED UP LIKE A LITTLE BITCH!" 

"You wouldn't last...five minutes..." Blake panted and then groaned loudly as he came, pounding into her quickly. He stayed there one he was finished, only for a moment, to recover his stamina then stood up and grabbed her again, pulling her to her knees and pulling her towards his cock. She whined and tried to pull back, only to get a decent shock from the collar. Hating herself with every fiber of her being, she took his cock into her mouth and looked up at him, trying not to think about where it had just been and what he had just done with it. This, of course, sent Ed into a tirade of threats, curse words, and any other sort of slur he could think of in the moment but it really didn't stop Blake from doing anything he was doing. After about a minute he shoved Alara back and tucked his cock back into his pants, zipping them up, and turning to head back towards Ed. Alara gagged violently, putting her hand over her mouth. She tried to take a few deep breaths to prevent herself from vomiting. 

"You worthless piece of-" 

"What?" Blake asked, "You see how much control I have here? Huh? You see what she just did for me? You understand now that I'm GOD and you are NOTHING?" Blake sneered, grabbing Ed by the throat starting to squeeze. Ed just glared back at him. No struggling, not attempting to get out of the hold. His face turning red and then a pale shade of blue before Blake let go and backhanded him roughly, making sure to cut his cheek open with one of his rings. Alara's stomach lurched and she leaned over and puked. 

Ed gasped and wheezed, coughing violently as he began to pull air back into his lungs. He'd already figured that one of two things would happen, he'd either pass out and Blake would let go or Blake would eventually let go on his own. He knew he wasn't going to die that way so he had just tried to wait it out as long as possible and it had paid off. Mostly. He was fairly sure the amphetamines in his system helped greatly in preventing him from actually blacking out. Blake grabbed a knife from the table of devices that he had nearby. A smaller one meant for throwing and he flicked it at Ed, landing it in his thigh. Then another, and another. All in all six different knives in the same leg. It was done so quickly Ed didn't really have time to scream until the last one landed. 

Blake grabbed another syringe and looked at it. He walked to Ed and injected him a second time with the same acid-like substance that he'd given him moments earlier, not giving him any time to recover from the knives in his leg. As the effects of the substance began to kick in, Blake grabbed each knife embedded in Ed's thigh and twisted it methodically before pulling them out and tossing them to the floor. Everything was moving very fast now, almost as if this was practice and Blake knew exactly what to do to bring someone to the brink of death, to the point of begging for mercy. Alara hadn't thought it could get any worse but hearing Ed scream continuously for so long like he was actually dying was threatening to tear apart every last bit of sanity she had, and then some. Finally, Ed fell silent and his head dropped again. Blake grabbed him by his hair and lifted his head, forcing him to make eye contact. 

"Had enough yet?" He hissed. Ed looked at him, his eyes glazed over, his body coated with sweat and blood. He tried to comprehend what was going on in this moment, but his brain felt like it was glitching. His vision would tunnel and resume, fade, and come back. His heart pounding so hard in his chest even that had become painful. He gathered what he could in his mouth and spit it into Blake's face. Blake let go of him, backing up, utterly disgusted. He ran a hand over his face to wipe it off then looked at it, there was blood there. He grinned. "You're still losing." He teased reaching down to smear the blood over Ed's chest. 

"Not...as long...as I still...live," Ed whispered in a shaky voice. Alara wasn't sure how much more of this she could take. Blake was a stubborn asshole and so was Ed. She knew that Ed was the kind of guy to keep on living just to spite a person like Blake who would just keep on torturing him to spite Ed. This would be a never-ending cycle of pain and torture until eventually she lost her mind and never got it back. She didn't know how much time had passed or if Gordon was any closer to getting them help or not. There was nothing to do but watch on helplessly as this sadistic battle of stubborn idiots continued while she waited and prayed that someone would come to her rescue. The light inside of her soul that sustained her through all of this was flickering and threatening to go out. Something needed to give, and quickly, or she'd be just as dead inside as Ed would be outside, by the time she regained her freedom. 


	24. The Other Side

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is fairly graphic as well in some areas but not as much as the previous chapter. This is also not the last chapter. Chapter 25 will be the last chapter. Of part one. Because with how I intend to end this one, there's going to need to be a part two, which I hope people are interested in. That is all.

Cold water hit her face and her eyes opened. She sat up and took in a deep gasping breath having no idea what happened. Obviously, if water was being splashed on her then she must have passed out but she couldn't figure out when, why, or what had even caused it. She looked around. Ed was slumped over in the torture chair still restrained and not moving. He'd been through the wringer by that point. Stabbed, injected with various drugs, electrocuted, beaten, whipped...from what her fuzzy memory recollected she passed out sometime after she saw Ed vomiting blood, but she couldn't exactly recall what had caused him to do that nor did she want to. Blake was standing over her looking annoyed. 

"Get up." He growled. 

"W-what...what's going on? Can I go home? Please...I just want to go home." She whispered having lost all resolve in her to fight him at that point. Neither of them cared about her feelings, that much was clear. It made her bitter, that Ed would put her through this in the way he had. It was simply out of spite towards Blake. Enough spite that he not only decided he had to die to save her but he had to get his ass tortured for hours on end as well. If that was the case then he must not give two shits about her, that was the only conclusion she could draw from this. Blake ignored her plea and pulled her to her feet. He walked her over to Ed and slapped the back of his head. This seemed to get Ed's attention and he looked up. His nose was broken, so were a few bones in his face. One eye was swollen completely shut and his lip was oozing blood. Her stomach wrenched but she had puked up everything in it already so she knew that there was nothing left to come up. 

"Tell her what you just told me," Blake said to him. 

"I said...let her go," Ed replied softly.

"And after you said that I asked you what?" 

"If I understand that letting her go means...taking my life." He breathed. 

"And what did you say?" Blake asked. 

"I said...I understand." Ed whispered. 

"NO!" Alara screamed, "Ed no...PLEASE!" 

"Shhh..." Blake said and pulled her close to him. "This is what your captain wants, it's better for you in the long run anyway." 

"You said she didn't have to stay in here for that." Ed wheezed. He sounded like he was in some serious pain and with how shallow his breathing was Alara wondered if might have punctured a lung at some point in time. "You also said...you'd let me see her freed." 

"I did say that didn't I?" Blake asked sounding like he was annoyed with himself. "Damn code of honor." He reached behind Alara and took her collar off then shoved her towards Ed. He then walked behind him and released the restraints on his arms. He slumped forward more and probably would have completely fallen had Alara not been where she was to catch him in her arms and prop him back up again. She hugged him tightly. 

"Please Ed...no." She whispered, "Don't do this, don't do this to me right now, I love you." 

"I don't think I have a choice. I want your freedom to mean something....I want there to be something left of you after this." He whispered. 

"This way...the other way, it doesn't matter now. I'll never be the same without you. I gave that monster everything for you and you came back to do this. This is not what I wanted and you fucking know that." She told him, putting her hand to his face gently trying to look into his one good eye. "We can still fight this. We can fight him." 

"I think if that were the case we'd have done it by now, Alara." He said and moved to put his hand on her shoulder as he sat himself back up more fully and took in a deep breath. "You did everything you could, no one will hold this against you." 

"I'll hold it against myself." She said. Blake moved behind her again and yanked her to her feet. 

"Alright that's enough, no one is interested in seeing this, or maybe they are...but I'm certainly not," Blake told her. Getting his arms around her he started to pull her towards the doors to the arena, she was kicking and screaming the whole way trying to break out of the merciless strong grasp that he'd have never had if he hadn't become the monster hybrid that he was years ago. 

"ED PLEASE DON'T DO THIS! MAKE HIM STOP! MAKE HIM STOP IT! PLEASE!" She screamed. The doors opened and he threw her down outside of them. 

"You know I really hate long, tearful goodbyes so..." He slammed his hand down on the button that would close the doors and they shut swiftly. She scrambled to her feet screaming and yelling. She started to pound at the doors with closed fists going into a blind rage. 

"OPEN THESE FUCKING DOORS! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T KILL HIM PLEASE!" She screamed. She pounded and begged until her throat was raw and she'd made a considerable dent in both of the doors but they were too strong, even for her. She couldn't get them to budge, she couldn't get in there. She couldn't stop Blake. She collapsed into sobs, pushing herself back into the wall, looking up at the monitor by the door to see what was happening in there. 

"Just over 6 hours...really now, we have to give the man credit." Blake laughed, addressing the viewers who were surely still watching all of this take place. "Don't think I've ever had anyone go that long before they wanted to die. It's a new record. I suppose the lesson here is not to underestimate what Union Captains will do to save their little whores." He walked over to the table and grabbed a knife, it was a very small one. 

"That certainly is...a good lesson." Ed panted. 

"Say it, Captain Mercer." Blake told him, turning towards him and pointing at him with the knife, "Let them all hear you." 

"Blake...Please show me your mercy by allowing me...to die." Ed said in a voice that was audible if only just barely. Alara's eyes went wide. There were no more tears because she was completely out of them. She felt her body start to tense up and her blood start to boil. Blake grinned at the camera and walked over to Ed. After restraining his arms behind him again he put his hand to the side of Ed's face and pushed his head to the side, tilting it to expose his jugular. He moved the knife in and made a small cut. Definitely a fatal wound but it would take a considerable amount of time for Ed to die that way. 

"Done," Blake said, stepping back so he stood a few feet across from Ed to admire his handy work. Alara screamed and charged at the doors full force. They gave way with a loud bang, crashing inward. She growled and set her eyes on Blake. 

"SECURITY!" Blake called. Alara screamed and ran at him, possibly faster than she'd ever moved in her life, her fist connecting with his jaw hard enough that she heard it crack. He flew back, slamming into the wall. She wasn't finished. She lunged at him again only to be struck back and sent flying herself. She hit a wall and slid down it. "You can keep this up or you can try to save him...I don't think you'll defeat me in the five or so minutes he has. The choice is yours, pet." 

Alara snapped back into reality at that point. She looked over at Ed who was bleeding out with no ability to stop it. She looked at Blake. Then Ed. Then Blake. Then Ed. The choice here was clear to her. She ran over to the table with the supplies looking for the dermal wand that would seal his skin back up. It wasn't there. She turned to look at Blake, he was holding it up so she could see it. 

"FUCK!" She yelled. She knew she could try to fight Blake to get it back but he was right. Even if she had, for the moment, regained her fighting strength, he was still in far better condition to fight her. Far better nourished, far more rested, far less emotionally shattered. She couldn't fight him but there was one thing she could do that a human wouldn't be able to. She put a finger over the puncture wound in his neck to stem the flow of blood considerably. It was like trying to save a sinking ship with a thimble but it would buy her time. Blake messed with a few settings on the device and used it to heal his jaw. 

"ALARA!" She turned when she heard Kelly's voice at the door, "Oh my God ED!" 

"Oh...just keep in mind, he didn't die so...I live to get my revenge another day." Blake laughed. He threw the wand in her direction and she caught it but before anyone else from her crew could get in there he hurried out of the exit on the other side of the arena. There wouldn't be any point in going after him. For one, his security and crew were waiting there and were armed, and for another, this was lawless space. They had no jurisdiction or right to hold him and he knew that. 

"What the hell happened, oh shit...Ed..." Gordon breathed coming in there next. 

"Alara...ALARA!" Kelly snapped at her, "Fucking fix his neck already!" She shook her head, snapping out of her daze and reset the wand. She used it to seal the puncture wound. Kelly released his restraints and Alara quickly got down and caught him in her arms so he wouldn't fall. He was alive but just barely. 

"Oh God what...what happened in here?" Kelly asked her. 

"We need to get Ed to the ship." She said. Even though she had saved Ed's life by some miracle or pure insanity, Blake had still gotten away, and he didn't have to keep his promise about staying out of Union territory if Ed was still alive. It was probably why he wasn't fighting this so hard. Him being alive would cause both of them terrifying nightmares for every single moment they had left. He'd still won, he'd still taken their lives, just not in the way that they weren't breathing anymore. She started to carry Ed towards the door, not saying anything to anyone else who had entered in there. Luckily, none of them were in uniforms. It wasn't just Kelly and Gordon, there were a few members of her security team there as well, with weapons. 

"You're...uh...not wearing anything," Kelly told her. 

"Really don't care right now. Not like the whole ship didn't just see me naked on those monitors." She growled softly. The number one priority was getting Ed back to The Orville, or whatever other ship everyone had arrived in. She could deal with the consequences of everything else once she was safe and on her way home. 

* * *

They had been on the ship for a few hours. Alara had gotten cleaned up and examined in sickbay by some other doctor who wasn't Claire. It was understandable to her that Claire had taken some considerable time off to be with her children and recover after the ordeal. She also found out that even though the vast majority of the crew had been captured, far more of them had been ordered to evacuate. This included Bortis and his entire family which had been on board at the time. Isaac had managed to store himself in a locked area and got into a sleep mode and was not discovered upon the massive ransacking for supplies that happened. It seemed the Pirates weren't interested in him enough to care about abducting him or even trying to see what or who he was. 

The senior crew that she had known best had all survived the ordeal. The only ones that had come back for this mission to find her and Ed were Gordon and Kelly. The rest of the crew was staffed by alternate members or new recruits (and then, of course, there were a few people she kind of knew from her security team but had never gone out of her way to get to know). She figured she was going to have to change that now considering how they had risked their asses to come in here and do this. The Orville had gotten special clearance to come in and find them. Ed and Gordon hadn't exactly made it easy on them either because she found out that they had been discovered in Lila's ship just as they entered the borderlands and took off to evade detection. Or so they thought. 

Since Ed and Gordon had entered the space in a civilian ship as civilians and never once tried to act under the authority of the Union (or represent them in any form) there were no formal charges that could or would be applied to them. Gordon had gotten a pretty severe reprimanding for being incredibly stupid and she was sure that Ed would eventually get the same but since they acted on their own there wasn't much more the Union could do to punish them and it had been decided they were punished enough. Not to mention the fact that they did succeed in their mission by bringing her back. 

At the moment, she was in sickbay, sitting by Ed's bed and half dozing. She was exhausted but she wasn't allowing herself to sleep because she wanted to be there the moment he woke up. It was late and they were on their way back to Earth. The doors opened and Lila stepped into the room. She was dressed far more normally than when Alara had first met her under her angel persona. In her professional attire with her hair up as it was she looked far more like a psychiatrist. 

"You need to get some sleep," Lila said as she came over there. 

"Not until...he wakes up." She said having to pause in the middle of it to yawn. Lila pulled up a chair and sat down by her. 

"I'll be here and the moment he wakes up I'll alert you. I promise." Lila said. Alara shook her head. She knew the woman was right but she didn't want to leave regardless of that so she was being difficult, and cranky. 

"I need to tell him that I forgive him." She said. 

"I think he knows." She said. 

"He won't know about-" 

"Alara, you will be far better emotionally equipped to deal with this if you sleep first." Lila said, "Besides I'm somewhat the ship's counselor now I guess." 

"According to who?" 

"Kelly asked me to...I mean if I wanted to. Seemed like a bad idea until I realized I have a better chance of not losing my own mind trying to process what I went through if I'm helping others here deal with their own shit. Once we get back home I'll definitely see a counselor myself but for now, this is how it is." She said. "I took care of Ed after you got him back home you don't think I can take care of him again." 

"You let him take your ship to try to find me." 

"You think he wouldn't have done it anyway?" Lila asked, "Trust me, his plans would have been way worse and far less effective had I not been there to ground him. Not to mention I'm the one who got you to break the leash." 

"Fine." She growled. She got up and left, heading to her quarters convincing herself that Ed had so much healing to do he probably wouldn't be up before she was awake anyway. 

* * *

Lila sat with Ed for a few hours as she worked on her own reports because the Union seemed to want a ton of explanation from her. She feared it meant she was going to lose her job but she also knew that if she lied then things would just be worse for her. This meant there were a lot of forms to fill out because the Union wanted their asses covered on this and she wanted to cover Ed and Gordon's ass by assuring the Union they had both gone in there as civilians. Hopefully, by the time they actually got back to Earth, everything would be cleared up and then they could all take a much-needed hiatus to recover. 

"He awake yet?" Gordon asked as he came through the doors. 

"Does he look awake?" She asked. 

"No...but I bet if I shout at him really loud he'll wake up," Gordon said. 

"I bet if I punch you, you won't think about doing that ever again," Lila said and then smiled at him. He chuckled and pulled up a chair to the other side of the bed, but still sat in a way where he could see and talk to her. 

"When are we going to tell people on the ship that we are a thing?" He asked. 

"I don't think that it's the most important..." She trailed off, "Oh wait you just want everyone to know that you have a girlfriend and she's kinda hot, don't you?" 

"No...well I mean that's not  _ALL_  of it. You're also a hero." He said, "Come on do you think I'm in this position much? Hell, you'll probably dump me before we get back to Earth so just let me bask in it while I can." 

"Sure, why not." She said, "As long as it doesn't go against any regulations or will get you in trouble." 

"You're not any sort of officer so no, it won't." He said, "Can't wait to see Ed's face when he hears about that." 

"No offense but I think he was and still is, way more into Alara," Lila told him. "I mean, he pretty much asked a crazy ass perverted monster to kill him so she could live. Don't think I'd have gotten the same." 

"You would have from me." He said. 

"Oh shut up. You've known me for like a day." She said. It had been more than a day but it had still been less than a week so she was really just trying to make a point that he barely had time to get to know her. 

"True but...in that time I saw you." He said, "I mean the real you. I watched what you did for him, what you did for me. You were tortured by the most vicious pirate in the known universe and you didn't even say our names or aliases. You went through hell for something you truly believed in to save a woman you don't know because you believed it would help Ed. I mean it's romantic, stupid, and brilliant all at the same time. So yeah, maybe we've only known each other for like a day, but that day took a lifetime." 

She stared at him as he explained it to her. Normally his word vomit and rambling was stupid and didn't go anywhere, or it was overly honest and kind of insulting. Not that she didn't like it because she found it refreshing that he seemed to lack any ability to care what other people thought of him. She thought he was funny and sweet, and at very least trying to do the best he could despite his obvious lack of social cues or really understanding most social cues. Either that or he didn't care about them. It was much more attractive to her than the stuffy shirt, egghead doctors she had to spend most of her time with. He was a normal guy, he wasn't really trying to impress anyone, and he said what he wanted to say. Except then, he said that. One of the most beautiful, poetic things that she'd ever heard any guy say to her. Though it had only come as a result of severe fucked up trauma and torture, she knew he meant every damn word of it. She quickly wiped a tear from her eye and took in a deep breath. 

"I won't break up with you before we get back to Earth, Gordon. You get at least a month for what you just said." She smiled. 

"Really? Alright!" He got up grinning like a moron. "Got me some favors to collect." 

"What?" She asked. 

"How many people on this crew do you think are going to believe me? That's why I'm going to start making bets first." He said. 

"Gordon..." 

"I'm just kidding...okay what I mean is I wasn't kidding but now that I see you are annoyed I totally was kidding." He explained. She laughed and shook her head. 

"Just get out of here you dork." 

"Right on." He said and walked out. They really had spent a lifetime together in a day, and she could very easily see herself falling in love with him given the right amount of time. She sighed and went back to her paperwork. It was a long night and there were quite a few more hours ahead of her before it would be over. It was only a few moments after he left that the actual doctor came over to her and held out a datapad. She took it and looked it over. 

"Someone needs to tell her this." He said. 

"Tell who wh-" She paused when she saw what the man was talking about and looked up at him, "First of all, I shouldn't even be seeing this, these are medical records, secondly you need to tell her." 

"I kind of didn't want to get my arm ripped off and beaten to death with it." He said, "Also I'm allowed to show another doctor her records ." 

"I'm a psychiatrist." 

"Still technically the same thing." He said. She growled under her breath at him and got up. He wasn't wrong but he only technically wasn't wrong and she really hated that. She was about to leave when she heard the monitors by Ed's bed start to increase in their beeping frequency, indicating that he was conscious. 

"Computer, alert Lt. Kitan that Ed Mercer is awake." She said and leaned over his bed to look at him, setting the datapad on the table next to the bed, completely forgetting about it in the moment. He groaned and his eyes opened slowly. "Ed?" she whispered. 

"Hell looks a lot like The Orville..." He muttered. She laughed softly and brushed some tears from her eyes. 

"Maybe it does but, you're not dead just yet." She told him and leaned in to stroke back some of his hair. She glanced at the door, knowing that Alara was going to be there at any moment to see him and they were going to have a hell of a lot to talk about together. 


	25. Can't Break Me Down

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter to part one. I am very aware it ends on a cliffhanger but I wrote the last 8 or so chapters of this so quickly I want to give people a chance to catch up. If you want to see a part two of this, please let me know. I certainly want to write it and have plenty of ideas for it. Thanks.

Ed wasn't much aware of anything. He kind of recognized Lila's face but it didn't seem quite right. His brain was fuzzy and the only thing he could keep thinking was that he was supposed to die. How was he not dead after all of that? Hours and hours of torture he had been very ready to die because he hadn't thought there would be any other way out. Any other way to get Alara out alive and unharmed. He closed his eyes trying to bring up the last memory he had. He was in the arena, there was a lot of pain. He was looking down at Alara, but she didn't have her collar on. He smiled. 

"Ed..." Alara said in his vision except it was clearer than that as well. Not distorted. His eyes opened and he sat up quickly. This made him dizzy and he groaned, immediately laying back down. He closed his eyes again, trying to compose himself, wondering if he was just dreaming this. Maybe he was in heaven and heaven was The Orville. Given that he really didn't believe in heaven or hell, he couldn't actually buy that as a possibility either. The only two options in his mind were that he had gone so insane he was hallucinating all of this, or he had actually been saved at some point. Just in the nick of time too. She felt his hand over his, giving it a squeeze. Yes, that was definitely real. He opened his eyes again. 

"Alara." He whispered, "You're alive." He moved his hand to her neck gently. She wasn't saying anything he could just see tears in her eyes, her grip on his hand getting stronger. 

"Ow.." 

"Shit, sorry." She whispered and let go of his hand. 

"No...it's okay that's good. I felt it. This is real." He breathed and then laughed. "It's real. I'm really here. I'm on The Orville. I'm on my ship. We're on...The Orville. We made it." 

"Yes...we did." She said and moved into him pulling him into her arms for a hug easily enough. He hugged her back tightly, pressing his face into her neck. He was certain he would have been crying too if he could at all find the energy to do so. Instead, he just held her tightly, they stayed silent for a very long time. 

"I'm just going to excuse myself but Alara, I'm going to need to talk to you when you get a moment. Ed, if you need anything just alert me. I'm here for you too." Lila told him. He looked up from Alara's neck, his vision and mind far more clear. 

"Lila..." He said, "I...I'm completely stunned by your bravery in all of this. What you did for me, and her...Gordon..." before he could continue Gordon ran in there. 

"I'M SLEEPING WITH YOUR THERAPIST IN YOUR FACE!" He yelled. Ed couldn't help but laugh, as weird and rude as that was, he very much appreciated that Gordon wasn't treating him like he was a glass figurine about to shatter. He could always count on his best friend to normalize a situation. "Also, good to see you awake." 

"How did you even know? I didn't contact you yet." Lila said. 

"Yeah, I was kind of spying on her because I knew you were going to tell her first so they could be alone," Gordon said. 

"Well, maybe they needed that moment before you came in here to bust up the place with your obnoxious boasting," Lila said. 

"Why do you think I waited outside of the door for five minutes first?" He asked. 

"Well, it's good to see you are happy," Ed said and it really was. He had a feeling that he wasn't going to be normal for a very long time after what he'd been through, and though he didn't doubt Gordon still had his own issues, both of them always had handled emotional matters extremely differently than one another. He could believe that this connection he'd made with Lila was probably helping him cope more than being alone would have, so it was good. They would get through this. Together. 

"Okay, that's enough time for bed," Lila said, walking towards Gordon. 

"She means we're going to have sex." 

"That's absolutely not what I mean," Lila said and then laughed. 

"Awwww," Gordon said as Lila took his arm and walked him out of sickbay. Alara laughed turning to watch them leave. 

"Odd couple but very cute." She said then turned to look at Ed again. He gently lifted his hand and wiped some tears from her cheek. She smiled at him, her lower lip quivering a bit. He sat up and leaned into her. They kissed, and it was passionate. This only lasted for a moment before she broke it and looked away from him. 

"What? Shit...sorry that probably wasn't-" 

"No, it's not you. Trust me it's not you, there's just something I need to tell you before you think you are all in love with me." She said. 

"I don't think it, Alara, I know it." He said. 

"Just wait until I-" 

"There's nothing you could tell me that-" 

"Blake is still alive and he knows you are too. He's not going to keep his promise to leave us alone." She said, "I had a chance I maybe could have killed him but you were dying, Ed, you were bleeding out. It was him or it was you. I could not let you die to take revenge on him. His death wouldn't have brought you back and I needed you to live." 

"Wait wait...just slow down." Ed said, "First of all I don't...that doesn't change my feelings about you but you are going to need to tell me what happened. I don't remember much." 

"Do you really want to know?" She asked him. 

"Really...I really want to know." He assured her, then he saw the look on her face. "Alara, if something goes wrong, Lila is here. She's a damn good psychiatrist and I think we both know that. Please, tell me." 

"I can show you." She said. "The Orville tapped into the feed on the outpost to get some idea of where we might be. They were monitoring communicators and other chatter to narrow it down as Gordon and Kelly led the security team through there. They recorded everything for evidence in case it was needed and it still might be. As of now the Union doesn't believe you violated any of their rules specifically but we'll need to turn over everything we can. The only reason we haven't sent them the video feed yet is Kelly and Lila both agreed we should get your consent before we told them we had it." 

"Wow, Kelly got along with another bossy woman. What are the odds of that?" Ed joked. Alara chuckled. She grabbed one of the datapads sitting nearby and pulled up the video feed. 

"I'm going to warn you that it's a bit graphic...probably worse because it's actually happening to you and you don't just have to watch it." She said. He sat up on the bed and moved over indicating he wanted her to sit with him. She nodded and got on the bed as well, he put his arm around her. 

"If you don't want to watch-" 

"No, it's fine. I know what happens and I kind of like the ending." She said softly. The good news in all of this was the feed didn't immediately cut out when she had broken in there. Whoever had been broadcasting it, or in control of the broadcast hadn't shut it off until much later. Part of her thought it was Blake who was in control of the feed, as that would make the most sense, and he would have had no time to stop it until he was out of there. "Wait, how much do you want to see? They got a good hour of the feed. They started to pick it up before they arrived and-" 

"I just want to see how I got out of there, for now." He said, "We can cover more ground later, that is if I don't end up recalling what happened. I have a sickening feeling I will." In the moment he believed he just didn't have the energy to process things, or work his memory correctly. Considering the nightmares he was having before he'd gotten back to her, he was certain that he was going to start recalling things and he wasn't looking forward to it. For now, he wanted to take the amnesia while it lasted. 

"Okay." She said and moved the recording to the last 10 minutes. She started playing it at their tearful goodbye when she was begging for this not to happen. The removal of her collar, Blake wrenching them away and picking her up to dump her out in the hallway. It lead up to Ed asking for Blake to end his life and Blake cutting his neck. He reached out and paused it himself because he felt like he was going to puke. "You okay? We don't have to do this now if you-" 

"No just...give me a minute." He said, "A minute...a minute alone. Leave." 

"Ed-" 

"I SAID LEAVE!" He yelled at her. She nodded and got up quickly. 

"I'll be right outside okay, and just for a minute." She said. He nodded and motioned for her to get out. 

* * *

Alara hurried into the hall not knowing why he wanted that but she also didn't want to force herself on him if he was requesting a moment to himself. This had to be hard on him. It would have been hard for anyone. It wasn't exactly easy for her to watch for a third time now, but she knew what to expect. She knew how it would end. Even though he clearly had the vantage point of knowing he somehow got out of there and that he survived, he obviously didn't retain the memory of being that pathetic, that broken. Considering who he was, he was probably shocked. She paced for a moment, wondering if maybe she needed to go get Lila. She gave it another thirty seconds before going back in there. 

Ed was on his feet, his back to the door, leaning against the bed. She could see from that position his hands on his face and he was shaking, heavily. He was crying. That's what he didn't want her to see? She came over to him and put her hand on his arm gently, stepping in front of him. 

"Ed," She said softly. "Ed, I've seen you cry I don't care if you-" 

"I am...so sorry," He breathed pulling her into a tight hug abruptly. She let out a yelp of surprise because she wasn't expecting that at all but she slowly brought her arms up and hugged him back. 

"It's okay," She said, "Ed really it's..." 

"It's not okay, God is none of this okay." He whispered still crying, she could barely understand him through his sobs. She knew exactly how he felt and she probably would have been in the same state if she wasn't so sleep deprived. That and she had cried so much and for so many hours before this point, it was almost as if she'd just lost the ability. He needed it to get it out too. She had to allow him this and she didn't mind. 

"It will be okay though because we are both still alive. That's all we need." She told him. He moved his face to the top of her head and kissed it softly before moving her back to look down at her. She looked up at him with concern, sadness, but most of all, genuine love. 

"How can you look at me like that? After what I did? Not just...that but everything, and then I put you through that because I'm so damn stubborn that I couldn't-" 

"Ed." She cut him off using a firm tone of voice, "It's over now, I honest to God, swear on my life hold absolutely nothing against you. I completely understand saying that doesn't fix everything and it will not stop you from feeling how you feel, but please, please believe me. I forgave you long ago for what happened because I know it wasn't your fault. How can I blame you for what Blake had control over? Do you blame me for...killing those people? For what I did? I love you, Ed Mercer. I meant it when I said it when I thought you were about to die and I mean it now." His breath hitched in his chest as he started to calm down, his hands coming up to wipe his face quickly. 

"You're serious." He whispered. 

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't be here right now, doing this with you. For you." She said, "I just want to help but I don't think this is help-" 

"No..." He said and picked up the datapad again, his hands shaking, "You said you liked the ending. It's a good one then isn't it?" 

"Very good." She told him, "But we don't have to-" 

"I can do this." He said, "It'll be worth it for a happy ending." She stepped to the side of him and he pulled her close so she could watch too. After another moment of slow breathing to compose himself he started the recording again. It was only shortly thereafter that the doors burst open and clattered to the ground. His eyes went wide. The feed showed Alara rushing Blake, breaking his jaw and knocking him across the room. Ed laughed breathlessly, a combination of what sounded like amusement and disbelief. 

"Told you it was a good ending." She said and wiped a few tears from her own eyes. 

"Fucking right it is, you kicked his ass." He said, "Oh my God...you did it! Alara...it...you saved me." 

"We saved each other." She said. 

"We really did, didn't we? Though what I did was incredibly stupid." 

"Yeah, and what I did wasn't?" She asked. "Love makes fools of us all. Stubborn stupid fools." She looked up at him. 

"You aren't wrong about that." He said and stopped the feed after the point which she was carrying him out of the arena. "I owe you everything." 

"You owe me nothing I didn't do it for a reward." She said. "Okay maybe one thing, get back in bed and rest." He laughed and set the datapad down then slowly got himself back into the bed and laid down. 

"Will you be here when I wake up?" He asked. 

"Only if you move the hell over and let me sleep with you, I'm exhausted too you know." She said. He laughed softly and slid over. The beds in here weren't huge, he was on one of the larger ones because they had expected him to be out for a long while and need it. Luckily she was small and could just fit in there with him. He wrapped his arms around her and snuggled into her closely. 

"I love you too, you know." He whispered. 

"I know." She whispered and closed her eyes. It wasn't long before she had drifted off into the first peaceful sleep she'd had in a long time. 

* * *

When Alara woke next it was because she really had to pee. Surprisingly she didn't have any bad dreams, or at least not any bad enough to remember. She gently moved Ed's arm from her and he muttered something in his sleep that sounded like 'fried chicken' before rolling over and starting to snore loudly. She snickered and headed into the bathroom. When she came out again, Lila was in there and she had a tray of food. Enough for both her and Ed. She walked back over to the bed but didn't get back in yet. 

"Can we talk?" Lila whispered softly. 

"Yeah sure." She whispered back, "Not in here." She looked around and then motioned to Claire's office. The ship wasn't fully staffed right now but it had been staffed enough to go on this mission. Besides, from what she'd been informed of, there had been other Union ships in the vicinity anyway. Lila and her entered the office and sat down together. Alara leaned forward and grabbed one of the plates of food. Pancakes, eggs, and bacon. She almost wanted to cry being able to eat normal food again. Lila looked at her.

"Alara," She said. "I need to talk to you about some of your medical...tests that you had when you got on here." 

"Why? The other doctor said everything was fine." She said and started to stuff her mouth with food, "I mean, other than some malnutrition and anemia? Anyway, he gave me an injection and said I'd probably need a few more before we got back but other than that I'm okay. Physically." 

"Yeah, there's something he left out." She said, "Not that you are dying or anything just...something he left out." 

"What?" She asked and slowed her chewing considerably. "And why did he leave it out?" 

"He thought it might be better that I tell you." She said, "Alara you're pregnant." She dropped the plate of food she was holding. It clattered loudly to the floor. That certainly would explain a lot of things but she had thought her period had stopped because she wasn't getting enough nutrition on the ship, and she was stressed, and she'd assumed the nausea and headaches were due to the food and the abuse. Same with the fatigue and...oh God. 

"Who...who's baby is it?" She asked softly. 

"It was just a general scan for basic vitals nothing deeper than that." Lila said, "It only shows a clear pregnancy not who it belongs to. I mean we can find out if you want but-" 

"No." She said. "How far along am I?" 

"Two and a half months." 

"Then it has to be Ed's. Right?" She asked. 

"I can't tell you the answer to that." Lila said, "Only a test can. Look we don't have to do anything right now but if you do want to terminate-" 

"No." She said. "I mean...I don't know. Oh God...what the fuck am I going to do?" She asked, immediately starting to hyperventilate. "I have to tell him...no wait...don't tell him anything." 

"It's medical information I can't tell him without your consent." Lila said. "Right now it's between me, you, and the doctor here and he can't tell anyone either. I was only authorized because I'm also a doctor. It ends with us three if you want it to." She stood up and started to pace nervously. Her mind racing. From what she could deduce she'd spent around three months with Blake. A few weeks of which were with Ed and he was fucking her. Except Blake came into the picture soon after. Not anything that Ed would recall because he was too drugged up to remember it seemed. She hadn't really asked him if he remembered yet, but to her best recollection, he wasn't aware of it. Then after that, Ed had left and she was there alone. There was equally good chance it was Ed's as it was Blake's. The guy was old but that didn't mean his sperm didn't still work and it probably had a better chance since he had Xelayan DNA. 

"I'm going to be sick." She muttered and raced for the bathroom where she ended immediately puked up the food she had just swallowed. She groaned and moved back from the toilet trying to catch her breath. Lila was in the doorway moments later. 

"Alara," 

"I don't know what to do." She said and then curled up and started to cry, "I don't know what to do....I...I don't want to know. I don't want to deal with this right now." Lila got down by her and put an arm around her gently. 

"It's okay, you have time. We'll figure this out. I promise." Lila said, "For now, it's just between you and me and we'll get you through it." Alara leaned into her and then pulled her into a tight hug right back. If this kid was Blake's then she didn't want it, hell she wasn't even sure if she wanted to have Ed's kid despite loving him more than anything. She didn't want to tell Ed, she didn't want to find out, but she didn't want to terminate the pregnancy. She didn't know what she was going to do and there didn't seem to be an answer, not now, and not even in the future. She was completely fucked. 

* * *

A week after they had arrived back and all of the evidence pertaining to Gordon and Ed's behavior had been reviewed it was decided they would not be formally reprimanded. As initially thought, it was believed they had been punished enough for their idiot behavior and since their mission had ultimately been successful (and not in the name of the Union in any way) the most they got was a very long lecture on why it was stupid and dangerous. There were notes put in their file but ultimately the notes really meant nothing. Neither of them was demoted or stripped of their command or duties. They were put on extended leave. 

Lila was given a medal of honor for her heroic actions in the face of considerable danger. She was offered a position as a Union psychiatrist. She accepted the position after disclosing her relationship with Gordon Malloy which was not under contention since she was not under his command, and he was not her patient and as long as it stayed that way, which it always would since she wasn't ever going to be an official officer, their conduct was considered acceptable. Gordon was referred to a different psychiatrist for his own treatment and path to recovery. Ed basically demanded that Lila stay his psychiatrist or he was just going to lock himself in his bedroom and never come out. This didn't initially go over well, especially considering what Lila had allowed him to get away with in the first place, but after she assured them repeatedly it would never happen again and she'd immediately inform them if Ed decided to do something that level of stupid again, it was agreed she might just be the best person to put up with him. 

The only conflict in all of this was that Alara was another one of her patients. She definitely knew not to cross them, and not to tell either one of them what the other was saying. She did know they were in a relationship, though, one they were hiding to prevent further problems or complete separation. As far as Lila knew, they were intent on hiding it to a point where they'd both be assigned back to the Orville. Since this was not a thing that was ultimately dangerous for their health and well-being or the health and well-being of others, Lila wasn't currently bound to report it. She did, however, inform each of them that if it ever came to that point where they were showing compromised judgment due to their feelings for each other she would separate and report them. 

It didn't matter much anyway, seeing as how it would most likely be months before either of them saw the bridge of The Orville again. It had been docked and placed out of commission temporarily until Ed could be put back in command. Lila would be the one who had the ultimate judgment of his mental health, as well as Alara's, and would also be the one to sign off on them when she believed they were ready for duty again. The two of them were both making progress but they were a long way away from getting back to duty. Both were showing severe signs of PTSD. Ed's was far more intense than Alara's, mostly in the way that he had so many gaps in his memories. Alara remembered the vast majority of what had happened to her, and only in that way could they talk it through and work it out. Ed's progress was stalled due to his amnesia. Finally, at Ed's request, Alara was brought into a session to help him fill in some of the blanks. Lila wasn't looking forward to this one. 

"Okay so, where do you want to start?" Lila asked the two of them as they sat across from her in her new office. She now wore a Union issues uniform but it only had the insignia of her profession on it, no rank. 

"Well," Ed said and looked at Alara, "Probably the best place to start is the first memory blank that I have. Which is what happened in Blake's office after dinner." 

"What dinner?" Alara asked. 

"The one with you, Gordon, me, Blake, and Kelly." He said. She looked at him, her face draining of color then she looked at Lila. 

"I don't think he needs to know this." She said. 

"Alara, it's important he has all the information he can get to be able to process everything that happened and he can properly heal." She said. "Subconsciously, he retains these things. His brain scans show a lot of bizarre activity there. They are causing him a lot of problems, especially his flashbacks and triggers. He needs to relive them, as hard as that may be." Alara cleared her throat and shook her head then she looked at Ed. 

"Blake took me and you into his office." She said, "You were going along with this whole...plan or something to flirt with him and I suppose take it as far as you possibly could so he wouldn't figure out you were faking. He got you on your knees and-" 

"Okay stop." He said and put his hand up, which immediately silenced her. He growled softly and immediately curled up, his hands over his ears, his head pressed to his knees. "I remember this and I really, REALLY don't want to." After a moment he sat up again and took a deep breath. 

"Ed?" Lila asked. 

"Continue." He said. 

"Ed, I don't think-" 

"CONTINUE!" He ordered Alara interrupting her. 

"Well, that's when I realized that he knew you were faking but he was doing it because he got off on your willing debasement to him, how far you would go to prove it. I tried to tell you but he shocked me and I passed out. When I woke up you were basically catatonic and the only thing I could gather was he...uh...fucked you as well." Ed stood up and started to pace. Lila got up and grabbed her injector, coming towards him. 

"Ed..." Alara said, eyeing Lila, her gaze switching back and fourth between him and their psychiatrist. "What's going on?" Lila didn't answer, she just motioned for Alara to stay quiet for the moment. Alara nodded and watched as she got closer to Ed. 

"GET AWAY FROM ME! DON'T TOUCH ME!" Ed roared at her. 

"Ed, we are in my office." Lila said, "I'm Lila, your psychiatrist." 

"Where is he? WHERE IS HE I CAN HEAR HIM!" Ed yelled at her, "Fuck..." She grabbed his arm quickly and pulled him in, pressing the injector to his neck to administer the sedative. Ed groaned softly and became instantly more relaxed. Lila took him over to the couch and sat him down carefully. 

"Look at me." She said, "Ed look at me." It took him a moment, as it usually did, and his eyes were glossy. She got down in front of him and looked up into his eyes. 

"Sorry." He whispered, "I don't...I don't know why I did any of that." 

"It's okay," Lila said. "Think maybe that's enough for now. We have other things we can discuss." She looked over at Alara who looked positively horrified by all of this. Lila could only deduce from her reaction to this behavior that Ed hadn't told her how bad it was and somehow, by a massive stroke of luck, he hadn't gone into some sort of flashback or memory lapse in front of her, yet. It was a good thing and a bad thing because Lila knew it was only a matter of time before he did and that's when it could potentially get dangerous for Alara. 

"Wait, what did you just say?" Alara asked, seemingly just digesting the words Lila had spoken moments ago. 

"I said we have other things we can discuss, namely how-" 

"What do you mean by that?" She snapped angrily. 

"Alara..." Ed said sitting up a bit knowing something was wrong, "Chill out. I'm fine now. She just wants to move on to another subject." 

"No...what do you mean by that," Alara demanded. 

"What does she mean by what? Why are you so upset?" Ed asked before Lila could get a word in edgewise. 

"You can't tell him, it's illegal, you swore you wouldn't." Alara accused her. 

"Alara she hasn't told me anything about you, if anything, she deserves a damn medal for how much she doesn't talk about you and believe me, I try," Ed told her. 

"What is that supposed to mean?" Alara snapped, looking back at him. 

"Okay...okay just...deep breaths here." Lila said, "Ed doesn't know anything I would never breach ethics like that. You know I wouldn't. If I was like that then your superiors would already have been informed of your relationship. You both know I keep secrets." 

"But he...but..." Alara took in a few quick breaths and looked at Ed, "I'm pregnant." 

"Holy fuck...what?" 

"THAT'S YOUR RESPONSE?" She roared and stood up. 

"Woah...okay...Alara..." Lila said and moved towards her quickly. As dangerous as Ed became when he was worked up, an angry and pregnant Xelayan was ten times worse. Though Alara still had massive issues getting back to her full strength due to the psychological and physical restraints that Blake had her under, she was prone to fits of rage and had already broken one of Lila's desks. "He's just a little shocked okay, I'm sure he wasn't expecting that." 

"No, I wasn't, but I didn't mean anything by it. I swear." Ed told her, "Please just sit down and we can discuss it. I promise I'm not upset." Alara looked at him for a moment and took a deep breath before slowly sitting back down. 

"You will be when I tell you I don't know who the father is." She said. Ed's face went into a blank stare and he got up and walked out of there without another word. "ED!" 

"Alara just...can you wait right here? I can fix this you just...give me a moment. Can I talk to him about this?" Lila asked. 

"Yeah...sure. Guess it's too late to hide much about it now? What else is there to hide?" She asked. Lila didn't want to leave her alone but she didn't like the look on Ed's face, and since she had to weigh who was more of a danger here (or more in danger here) her priority was to go after Ed and bring him back to her office, which she intended to do as quickly as possible. She caught up to him in the hall, getting in front of him quickly. 

"Ed-" He raised his hand like he was going to hit her and she caught his wrist just in time. It took a hell of a lot of effort to counter that move and shove him back into the wall but she did it. This seemed to jolt him out of whatever daze he'd gone into. "Ed...I know this can't be easy for you, but it's not easy for her either so please, for the love of everything holy try to pull yourself together." 

"Did she say she didn't know who the father is?" He whispered. 

"Yes, she said that, because she doesn't," Lila said. 

"And why doesn't she know this?" Ed asked, "Tests of this nature are really easy to run, Lila. We both know that." 

"I was informed of this after an initial and very basic scan of her once she got back on The Orville. It wasn't near in-depth enough to take any readings on the fetus." Lila told him, "Now, me and her have been over the timeline of this, as best we could, for the past few weeks. There isn't a clear answer because of how things line up and she's too scared to get a test. I've been trying to talk her into it but this behavior isn't helping. Not that I can blame you because I absolutely don't but...if she doesn't find out soon she's not going to be able to terminate the pregnancy even if she wants to." 

"Alright." He said and took in a deep breath. He closed his eyes and let it out slowly, "Well we need her to get a test." 

"And if it's yours?" She asked, "Are you even ready for-" 

"What if it's not mine?" 

"You got a 50/50 shot if it's yours are you ready for what that means?" Lila asked him firmly. 

"Yes, if she makes the decision to keep it based on that information," Ed said. 

"What if it's not?" She asked. 

"I will hunt down Blake and castrate him." He said. 

"Okay, that's certainly not anything you should be telling me seriously because I will have to report it so do you want to rephrase that?" Lila asked. He growled at her. 

"I will want to hunt down Blake and castrate him with every fiber of my being." He snarled. 

"Better." She said. "What if she wants to keep it no matter who it belongs to?" 

"Well, that's just not..." He paused when he noticed the look on her face, "No, she hasn't discussed that with you she's...she wouldn't." 

"Ed, this isn't a normal situation and I'm not here to tell her what to do." Lila said, "I'm here to help her cope with whatever she chooses and advise her. I can't make her do anything and it's not illegal for her to have that baby even if it's not yours." 

"I need some time," Ed told her. 

"Time?" she asked, "Time actually alone in your home or time to hunt down Blake and murder him?" 

"Lila," He said and took her hand gently. "I need time to think. I promise you, if I actually think about going after him and the urge becomes more than a revenge fantasy I'll tell you. I owe you that much. Can you please just trust me?" 

"Fine, but I want to hear from you in one hour, even if it's just for thirty minutes, so I know you haven't run off and done anything stupid. You owe me that." She said. 

"I completely agree, just give me a moment, okay?" He said. 

"Right, I'll go see what I can do about Alara." She said. 

"Thanks." He said, "Don't worry, I won't let you down and I won't let her down either. You can be sure of that." He moved away from her and headed down the hall. At very least she could rest assured that sedative was still in his system and would hold back the worst of his impulses. She headed back to her office to see what she could do with Alara for the time being and prayed that ultimately he would do the right thing. 

* * *

Alara took a very long time to calm down, longer than the session was supposed to be, but Lila pushed a few things back for her to give her that time. When she left she was much calmer but still very upset. She headed back to her place, having no idea where Ed went or what to expect when he came back. That was if he came back at all. She knew he was upset with her and she knew why, and yet still, she couldn't bring herself to actually do anything about this situation. 

When she got to her apartment she set her bag down and headed towards her bedroom. She intended to get undressed, take a hot bath, and then curl up with a good book for a while. Try to distract herself from all of this if at all possible. When she got into her bedroom, Ed was sitting on her bed. She gasped and jumped back, not expecting that. Once she realized who it was she breathed a sigh of relief and laughed softly. 

"You're damn lucky I didn't punch you into that wall." She told him. 

"I know." he said, "Actually I kind of deserve it, you want one free shot?" 

"No, I'll save that for when you lose your mind and actually try to go after Blake again." She said and started to get undressed. "What do you want anyway?" 

"I wanted to tell you that no matter what you decide, I'll be there for you. If you keep the baby, or if you don't. If it's mine or if it isn't. Doesn't really a matter. What matters is that if you do have a child you have someone here to love and support you. To help you and, whoever that child does belong to well...it's not a monster. It's part of you too. I can't tell you what to do, I can't claim I'll be perfect at it, I can't claim I'm ready for this because I'm surely not, but this isn't up to me. I want you to figure it out and I'll support whatever that decision is." He said. She paused what she was doing and came over to the bed, pulling him into a tight hug. He hugged her back. 

"Thank you." She whispered. She'd never been more in love with him than she was in that moment. She still had absolutely no clue what she was going to do, but it felt like a giant weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She didn't have to hide it from anymore and that would make things much easier in the long run. She didn't think she was ready for it either but she wasn't sure how quickly she could bring herself to terminate her pregnancy either. She knew there was a window of time and the window was getting smaller but she kept hoping, praying that something would come up and she'd never have to make that decision. She pulled back and looked at him. "That's all I needed to hear." 

He smiled at her and leaned in for a kiss. They had survived Blake, and they certainly would survive this too. Even if together they were just barely keeping their heads above water, they were breathing and alive. Sadly, they were completely unaware of the shark that was closing in on them, getting ready to bite and drag them right back under again. 

* * *

 

**You made it this far, why not read part two find it COMPLETED at[this link](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13558422/chapters/31112589)**

 


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